Conversations With Myself
by Lynyrd Lionheart
Summary: When Katherine smothers Caroline, she doesn't become a vampire. In fact, Caroline doesn't become anything, not even dead. But then the voice appears, and so does the chaos. And it seems the only person who can tell Caroline what is going on with her… is herself. Eventual Klaroline.
1. Part 1: The Descent Conversation I

_**AN: This is my first ever "Vampire Diaries" fanfic (not counting some one shots on tumblr). It is very much Caroline-centric (my favorite character), will most likely become Klaroline (or at least be very Klaus-heavy) and begins by loosely following the plot of Season 2. There may be some events that are cut out, or that happen out of order, and Caroline **_**is not**_** a vampire. In fact, the whole story revolves around Caroline discovering who/what she is. The story will be told in 3 parts and consist of both chapters and conversations (like this first one) that Caroline basically has with herself. I have a basic outline for the whole thing, and the first 6 chapters are already done. So, if you enjoy, please leave me a review, and if you don't enjoy, then still please leave me a review and tell me why. **_

_**Conversation I**_

Get out of me. Get out of me. Get out of me.

I CANNOT LEAVE. NOW THAT I AM AWAKE, WE ARE ONE. ONLY DEATH WILL SEPARATE US NOW.

Then maybe I'll kill myself, and it will all be done.

… NEGATIVE. YOU WILL NOT KILL YOURSELF. YOU LOVE LIFE TOO MUCH.

I hate you.

… NEGATIVE. YOU FEAR ME, BUT YOU ALSO LIKE THE POWER I GIVE YOU.

I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.

I AM YOU. YOU DO NOT HATE YOURSELF, SO YOU DO NOT HATE ME. YOU HATE THAT YOU DON'T HATE ME.

I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. Get out of me. Get out of me. Get out of me.


	2. Killing Me Softly

_**Chapter 1. Killing Me Softly**_

The soft beeping of the heart monitor is the first thing Caroline hears.

Slowly, other noises begin to invade her consciousness. The squeaking of sneakers on the hard floors. The murmur of voices; doctors and nurses in deep discussion. Her own heart beat. As the noises come to her, so do the memories.

The accident. Her friends visiting her. Elena-who-is-not-Elena smothering her, declaring "game on" to the Salvatore brothers, and calling herself Katherine. Caroline's head aches. It is all too much to take in. The pain, then the miraculous recovery. The feeling of being unable to breathe, unable to fight back, as the pillow covered her face.

Caroline died, she knows she did. So how is it that she is still alive? And she knows she is alive, she can't explain how, but she knows it with a certainty that she feels deep in her bones. Caroline opens her eyes and immediately slams them shut again. The world outside is too bright to open them quickly. She tries again, this time opening them slowly, millimetre by millimetre, until they are finally completely open and she can see her surroundings. The sterile white of the hospital room is familiar.

Caroline slowly levers herself up. Just yesterday, she was bruised and sore from the accident. Today, she feels better than… she doesn't think she's ever felt this good. She feels strong, as if she could take on the world and win, and still be ready for another round.

Despite the confusion from her dream of Elena-who-is-not-Elena, Caroline feels strong and confident. She has never felt like this before. Caroline knows herself well. She knows that she's a neurotic, self-conscious mess who has a severe inferiority complex when it comes to Elena Gilbert. It's this fact that has been one of the major road blocks in her relationship with Matt… her relationship with anyone, really.

So why, suddenly, does she feel as if she could laugh in Elena's face? Elena superior to her? Nations have crumbled and fallen at Caroline's merest whim. She is inferior to no one, especially not that silly little dopple-

The thoughts cut off, and Caroline is confused. Cheerleader hopefuls may have crumbled when Caroline gave them the bitch brow, but nations? She knows she can be a bit narcissistic at times, but that is ridiculous, even for her.

_Is it? _

And the little voice, though speaking in Caroline's voice, is not Caroline. She has never spoken in a purr that low and wicked before. It makes Caroline's seduction voice sound like the lame attempts of a twelve year old with her first crush, and Caroline feels, for just a second, horribly envious of whoever it is that could speak like that.

Then she remembers it was in her head, and decides that freaking out is a _way_ more appropriate reaction than envy. Caroline reaches up with her hand, planning on running them through her hair, but her IV gets caught. With an angry curse, Caroline rips the needle and tape from her arm and flings it away from her.

She feels uncomfortable in her own skin now, as if there's only room for one- her or the voice that is so much more confident- and Caroline fears that if she thinks about it anymore, she'll lose herself to… something. She doesn't know what.

Caroline drags herself out of the bed and tears at the zipper of the duffel that her Mom brought by the night before, so she would have something to change into when she got released. With a loud rip, the zipper tears from the cloth, and Caroline stares down at the mangled bag in her hands in shock. Yes, she had been rougher than usual… but Caroline knows she's not that strong. "Strong" would never be a word used to describe Caroline. She's delicate, feminine… _pink_.

_Red looks better on us. _

Caroline's legs give out beneath her, and she sinks to the floor. She can't even gather up a proper panic attack, shock has already taken over her system, leaving her numb. Caroline doesn't know what is happening to her. Just yesterday, she was so very happy. She had been crowned Miss Mystic Falls, beating Elena for basically the first time ever. Things with Matt were going great. Now, today, Caroline feels like a stranger in her own mind. She feels as if she's losing her grip on reality, and there is no one there to help her, to tell her that everything will be fine.

For the first time since she was twelve, Caroline just really wants her mommy.

When Matt comes half an hour later, she is still on the floor, her blue eyes gazing into nothing. She looks so lost and fragile that Matt feels a surprising protectiveness rise in him. He knows Caroline can be insecure, but this goes beyond that. Caroline looks as if her whole world has fallen around her and she has no idea how to get it back.

"Care?" he asks softly. "Are you okay?"

Caroline's gaze goes to him, but it's still vacant, her brow furrows as if in confusion. Matt opens his mouth to speak again, but Caroline's gaze suddenly clears and her face brightens into her usual cheery grin so suddenly that Matt wonders if he hadn't just imagined the lost little girl look from before.

"Matt, hey. Are you here to take me home?"

"Sorry, Care, but you'll have to wait until your Mom is done for that. I brought you this, though." He held up a box of her favorite milk chocolate truffles. "I thought you could probably use something better than hospital food to help you feel better… although you're looking awesome. I guess they thought you were worse than you were."

Caroline's smile never wavers as she replies, "They must have. I feel great today. Just give me a second to go put on some real clothes and we can have a chat before you have to head back to school."

Matt sits on the hard chair next to the bed while Caroline grabs her duffel and breezes into the washroom. Matt notices that there is a long tear in the fabric next to the zipper and frowns. The bag had been fine when sheriff Forbes had brought it in, he was positive. Besides, Caroline wouldn't be caught dead with a duffel bag that was less than perfect. It's just Caroline – meticulous until the very end.

Matt pushes his worries aside when Caroline comes out of the washroom, dressed in jeans and a lacy, girly pink camisole and smiling her smile that could light up the world. Most of the time, Matt is pretty sure that he is still in love with Elena, but then Caroline smiles at him and it becomes Elena who? He knows that it's not entirely fair to Caroline, that he should be in love with her all the time, but Matt, despite being a nice guy, does have his selfish moments. And he's not willing to give up his golden girl, not yet. He hopes, given time, that those moments of Elena-who? will overtake the moments when he still pines for the dark haired girl who got away. Since they've started dating, he's pretty sure Caroline will be the one to make this happen, if anyone can.

Caroline sits cross-legged in the middle of the bed and grins at him, and Matt can't help but think of how ridiculous it is that she has to stay here until her mom comes to get her out. Caroline looks completely healthy, and if there is still a bit of the lost girl hidden in the depths of her eyes, it's hidden well by the cheery look she's pasted over it. She should be allowed to leave, allowed to enjoy the beautiful day outside.

"I wish I could leave," Caroline says longingly, as if she had heard Matt's thoughts (she hadn't, but Matt is surprisingly easy to read when she isn't worried about whether or not he wishes she was Elena).

"Maybe we could call your mom, get her to come and get you out."

"She's working." Caroline bites her lip, the dutiful daughter who doesn't want to interrupt her mom warring with the spoiled teenager who just wants to go _do_ something.

Matt rolls his eyes and grabs her cellphone, miraculously unharmed in the crash, from the bedside table and dials the sheriff's office, effectively concluding Caroline's internal battle for her. Within five minutes, Sheriff Forbes has been contacted and is on her way to sign her daughter out of the hospital.

"How's Tyler?" Caroline asks, once the call has been made and the two await her mother's arrival.

"He's okay. Feels really guilty about what happened."

Caroline thinks to herself that he should. Tyler had been behind the wheel, and it was his fault that she was in the hospital for Elena-who-was-not-Elena to kill… and no. She made the decision in the washroom to forget that. It was a weird dream, and the voice was just a leftover from it. She didn't die. She isn't hearing voices that are overly violent and seductive… she is Caroline Forbes. She is Miss Mystic Falls, girlfriend to Matt Donovan, best friend to Elena Gilbert and Bonnie Bennett, and HBIC of Forks High School. Whatever weirdness happened last night was the result of the crash and whatever it jumbled up in her head. This morning was the result of some residual trauma. Now, she is fine. Now she is simply Caroline. Caroline who was hurt in an accident, but still Caroline.

Still, speaking of weirdness…

"What exactly _did_ happen, Matt?" she asks. "One minute everything was fine and the next… bam! Tyler is freaking out and we're crashing."

"No one really knows," Matt replies. "Tyler was going on about some sort of sound he was hearing… but it's kind of been pushed to the back burner now that the Mayor has died. No one wants to push at Tyler in case he does something stupid."

Caroline bites her lip and avoids looking at Matt. She feels for Tyler, she really does. Yes, both her parents are still alive, but with her father living so far away and her mother being married to her job it sometimes feels like she's all alone. Still… whatever happened to Tyler was the catalyst to everything that's happened to Caro-

No. She had decided that none of that happened. The biggest issue Caroline has to deal with is wondering where the money for her hospital bill will come from, and that will be up to her mother to deal with anyway. So Caroline is carefree and sunny, just like always. She has not died and come back. She does not hear voices.

_Wrong, Little Girl._

And once more, Caroline looks like the lost little girl, and Matt catches her as she falls into his arms, sobbing.

**AN: For those who follow me on tumblr ( . , you'll recognize this as the chapter I posted there already. I will be updating chapters weekly, and the update day will be Sundays. This week, you will get two chapters. This one and the one I'll post on Sunday. I'm hoping that I've written enough to be able to maintain this schedule without falling behind. Let me know what you think!**


	3. Hanging By A Thread

_**AN: It's Sunday! That means an update. Thank-you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. And here is chapter 2. **_

_**Chapter Two. Hanging By A Thread**_

Matt has been avoiding her.

Or maybe she has been avoiding Matt.

Caroline isn't entirely sure any more. All she knows is that she hasn't spoken to him since the day after the accident, when she completely broke down on him. That was three days ago.

Caroline has also been avoiding Elena.

The voice in her head has been quiet, but Caroline can feel it there. And if the voice is real, then that means she really _was_ killed by Elena-who-was-not-Elena, and Caroline is terrified that it really _was_ Elena, and she'll run into her best friend only to have the brunette kill her.

Again.

Except that Elena doesn't seem surprised to see Caroline alive and kicking on the few occasions in which Caroline has had no choice but to interact with her. Surely, if Elena had really smothered her, there would have been some surprise on the girl's part when she saw Caroline come back to school yesterday. But Elena had just smiled and welcomed her back. Either there was someone with Elena's face running around killing neurotic beauty queens and calling herself Katherine, or Elena is the best actress in the world.

And Caroline knows for a fact that Elena is a crap actress. She still cringes when she thinks of Elena's portrayal of Ophelia back in eighth grade.

But today, Caroline awakes and has bigger fish to fry than the question of whether or not Elena Gilbert is a psycho killer. Because Caroline woke this morning and she _remembered_.

She remembers Damon compelling her to steal from Bonnie, to release him from the boarding house. She remembers how he used and abused and verbally _destroyed_ her. She knows she should be more shocked and panicked about the existence of vampires in her small Virginia town, but she can't bring herself to care about the larger ramifications of this revelation at the moment.

Because Caroline is _mad_, and the voice purrs within her mind contently, because it realizes that it's finally going to get what it desires.

Caroline is going to get blood on her hands.

Damon is sitting in the Grill when Caroline comes flouncing in. She rolls her eyes to see him buried in a glass of bourbon, but realizes she should be more surprised by the fact that Alaric isn't sitting next to him than by the fact that Damon is indulging in pre-noon drinking.

"I need to talk to you," she says, coming to a stop next to the blue-eyed vampire. Looking at him, she can see why she was so attracted. Damon is hot, there's no denying it. Too bad he's such a jackass.

"Too bad I don't want to talk to you, Blondie," he replies, taking another gulp of his drink, and proceeding to thoroughly ignore Caroline. Caroline feels less than impressed, and her mood is made even worse by the voice, which is telling her to rip off Damon's head and be done with it.

She wants to make him pay. To make him hurt. To humiliate him, like he humiliated her. She doesn't want him dead. Dead-er… okay, so the vampire thing still has her thrown off a little.

Feeling her anger rise, she reaches out and grabs the bourbon from Damon's hand, tossing back what's left in the glass. The alcohol burns on its way down, and Caroline coughs a little, but when she looks at Damon again, she feels a bit more grounded. She also feels more in control and confident. Enough so that the glare Damon has pinned on her doesn't inspire fear as he suspects it to.

"You're an asshole, Damon. And I remember. Everything. Now unless you want your little secret to be revealed to everyone in here, you're going to come with me. And we're going to have a little chat."

Damon looks shocked for a moment, and looks at Caroline with new eyes.

"You can't remember. Not unless you're a…"

Damon trails off, and Caroline realizes that he thinks she's a vampire. She just gives him a cocky smirk and heads for the exit to the alley. If Damon wants to believe she's the newest member of the undead, he can go ahead. Caroline knows with a certainty that she's never felt before that whatever she is, it's leagues away from being a vampire.

It's so much better.

Caroline breezes out of the back door of the Grill, into the alley behind it. She turns around and smiles at Damon as he follows her out, too curious about this new Caroline to resist the temptation.

As soon as the door closes behind him, Caroline sends him flying into the brick wall of the neighbouring building. His head hits the brick with a sickening crunch and both Caroline and the voice revel in the sound.

"What the hell, Barbie," Damon snarls, coming to his feet and rushing at her. Caroline is still new to the supernatural, and she feels a thrill of fear as Damon pins her against the Grill's wall by her throat. He is so preternaturally strong and Caroline fears she may have bitten off too much. She can feel her air being cut off and her vision begins to darken, and all she can think is _not again_.

Then the voice takes over.

Damon's eyes widen in shock when Caroline's eyes snap open. Eyes that are usually a hazel green are now an eerie, glowing silver, and despite the fact that he is strangling her, her lips part in an utterly wicked smile.

"Big mistake, vampire," purrs Caroline, but it is not Caroline at the same time. Because Caroline has never been this confident, or this damn _powerful_, and she easily snaps Damon's wrist, forcing him to release her. Her foot flashes out in a quick, hard kick, and Damon feels his leg give out under him as his knee cap shatters from the force. Caroline kneels down next to him, and in her eyes he can see his death. For the first time, Damon genuinely regrets what he did to Caroline when he first came to Mystic Falls. Not because of guilt, but because he knows she is going to kill him and he'll have no one to blame but his own foolish self. She grabs his hair in a painful grip and pulls him up so his ear is next to her mouth.

"I don't like to be abused," she whispers, her breath hot against his skin. "I especially don't like to be abused by sad little vampires who have a higher opinion of their skills than they've any right to. I'm not going to kill you today, because I want you to remember. I want you to look at me, to see me every day, and to remember that the only reason you're not dead is because you're not worth it. You're pathetic, Damon. That's why Elena loves Stefan, because she sees it too. You're shallow and pathetic, and you just got your ass handed to you by a cheerleader. Remember that. Look at me, remember, and fear."

"How are you doing this?" Damon hisses, cringing as her fingers grasp his hair even tighter, something he didn't think was possible.

Caroline ignores the question and stands, pulling Damon to his feet as she does so. Her eyes are no longer glowing, but they are still silver, and Damon has a feeling that if he tried, he could break away from her, but there is something lurking there that warns him that if he makes one wrong move, he won't get a second chance to survive.

"Katherine says game one."

Then, Caroline snaps Damon's neck with a quick turn of her arm. She stands above him, looking down at the body with no emotion. Damon is nothing but a crumpled, unconscious pile of black denim and leather, but Caroline doesn't feel as victorious and righteous as she thought she would. In fact, she feels very little at all. She turns away from the downed vampire, and the silver leaves her eyes. She is once again simply Caroline Forbes, the neurotic beauty queen and cheerleader. And she just broke a man's neck.

Caroline throws up next to the dumpster.

The first thing Damon does when he wakes up from his Barbie induced nap is call Stefan and Alaric and tell them to get themselves to the boarding house pronto. It's bad enough that Katherine is running around pretending to be Elena and kissing him, they don't need a psychotic Caroline Forbes as well.

"Is she a vampire?" Elena asks after Damon has finished telling them about the day's earlier events.

"I don't know what she is, Elena," Damon replies. He thinks of Caroline's glowing silver eyes. There had been no veins or redness, the usual sign of a vampire, and she hadn't had fangs. Yet her strength was like that of a vampire hopped up on steroids. "All I know is that yesterday she was normal Barbie, and now today it's like Wonder Woman and Buffy had a baby and named it _Caroline_."

"She has to be a vampire," Stefan replies. "Katherine probably planned on killing her to send us a sign, but Damon gave Caroline his blood. So…"

"She's in transition," finishes Alaric. "Has she completed it, then? Will we be hearing about another mysterious "animal attack" tomorrow?"

"We have to kill her," Damon says bluntly. "With Katherine on the loose, we don't have time to deal with a baby vampire in transition."

"You can't just kill her, Damon," Elena protests. "Caroline is my best friend. She has been since we were little girls. I won't _let_ you kill her. Besides, are you even sure you'd be able to? It sounds like she kicked your ass pretty handily."

"She was angry," Damon mutters. "Anger is a pretty good strengthener."

Still, he recalls the look in Caroline's eyes, once they had started to glow so eerily. There had been anger there, it was true, but the more dominant emotion had been amusement. Caroline had be amused that Damon had believed he would defeat her so easily. And then she had defeated him as easily as a lion would a mouse.

Damon doesn't like feeling like a mouse, and so it's possible that it's his pride more than anything that says Caroline should be put down. But Damon doesn't want to admit that.

"You don't know what it's like for a vampire in transition, Elena," he responds, changing his tactic from demanding to wheedling. "The thirst is horrible. She won't be able to control herself. She won't be the Caroline you knew. She'll be a monster, and there's no telling how long it will take her to return to something even close to her human self, if she ever does at all. Do you really think Caroline would want you to let her become a murderer?"

"We can't kill her. Not when she hasn't done anything wrong yet," Elena responds, sticking stubbornly to her guns.

"Oh, so we should wait until it's too late and she kills some innocent person? Wouldn't it be kinder to stop her before that even happens?"

"Elena is right, Damon," Stefan says, cutting into the conversation before Elena can reply. "Caroline hasn't done anything. The bloodlust can be controlled. We just have to find her and help her to achieve that control. If she's even a vampire. Are you sure that you didn't just hit your head too hard? Maybe you were seeing things?"

"I'm a _vampire_, Stefan," Damon responds testily. "Even if there was damage done to brain, it would have healed before the end of the fight. Your argument is invalid. And really, who are you to talk about control? Over a century later, and you still can't handle anything stronger than Thumper without going all ripper on us. Do you really think _Caroline Forbes_ can handle this life?"

Stefan's jaw clenches angrily, but he doesn't reply. He knows Damon is right about him. But he isn't so sure that Damon is right about Caroline. Yes, the girl is insecure and neurotic, but she's also a control freak. Oddly enough, Stefan believes that if anyone can control the blood lust, it's her. So, rather than commenting on Damon's commentary about Stefan's control, Stefan focuses on his brother's comments about Caroline.

"Caroline isn't me, Damon. There's no telling what sort of control she is capable of."

"Stefan's right. Caroline is basically the biggest control freak ever. You guys told me that human traits are magnified when you're turned, which basically means Caroline will be a control freak on steroids. There's no way she'd turn ripper," Elena agrees.

"She's also a neurotic little psycho with self-esteem issues that can all be linked back to _you_, Elena. What if those are magnified as well and she decides that her first victim is going to be the girl she's always come second place to? Can't either of you see the danger in this situation?"

"Look, let's find Caroline and see how she's dealing with this," Alaric interjects, sensing that if he doesn't put in his two cents, the brothers will soon come to blows. Things are already tense between the two because of Katherine's little games, and the last thing they need is to add more heat to the situation. "Maybe she'll have some more insight into Katherine's plan. I mean, Katherine had to have turned her for a reason, right?"

"Katherine probably expected her to die," Stefan replies, turning away from Damon, and Alaric is relieved that he's managed to stop a blow-up, at least for now. "There's no way she knew that Damon's blood was in her."

"Then Ric's right, and we need to get to Caroline right away. Who knows what Katherine will do to Caroline if she finds out that her little message is still walking around alive… sort of." Elena is already putting on her coat. She turns around to look at the three men at her kitchen island. "What are you guys waiting for?"

Stefan and Alaric stride after the brunette. Damon stays at the counter for a few minutes longer, then curses and follows the trio. He'll play this game they're way for now, but as soon as Blondie makes one wrong move…

Well, Damon will be there to make sure what needs to be done gets done.

_**AN: Well, I hope you enjoyed reading about Caroline beating Damon up. As you can see, she really has no clue what she is, what she can do, or what the hell is going on. It's incredibly fun to write. Don't forget to review!**_


	4. Conversation II

_**AN: Yet another chapter. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, and I'm glad to see that most of you are curious as to what exactly Caroline is. That's kind of the whole point of the story, especially in this first part.**_

_**Conversation II**_

YOU THINK I WANT TO DESTROY YOU.

Don't you? You're taking everything from me. My life, my beliefs, my sanity. Pretty soon, you'll probably take my friends.

YOU THINK IN SUCH SIMPLE TERMS. GOOD IS GOOD, EVIL IS EVIL. THERE IS NO GOOD. NO EVIL. JUST US.

I am _not_ you.

I AM YOU. YOU ARE ME. DENIAL WILL NOT CHANGE THESE THINGS.

… If I am you, then what are we?

CHAOS. PEACE. DESTRUCTION. SALVATION. WE ARE EVERYWHERE AND NO WHERE.


	5. Sinking Slowly

_**Three. Sinking Slowly**_

Caroline is sitting in the town square when they find her. She is watching a flock of geese, but she doesn't really see them. Elena can tell by the distant look in her eyes that Caroline is inside herself right now, unaware of what surrounds her. Elena considers the lack of dead bodies around her to be a good sign, though.

"You're here to kill me, aren't you?" Caroline asks, and it surprises Elena, who had been certain she would have to shake her friend out of her stupor. But Caroline looks away from the geese to their little foursome, and Elena sees a stark fear in her eyes.

"We're not here to kill you, Caroline," Stefan replies, sitting on the bench next to her. Elena sits on Caroline's other side while Alaric and Damon stand a couple of feet back from the bench. "We're here to help you. I know how hard the transition and the blood lust can be. I can help-"

"I'm not a vampire, Stefan," Caroline cuts him off. "I don't know what I am, besides crazy, but I do know that I'm not a vampire. I even asked the voice, just to be sure. And that sounds so completely crazy, but right now I have no one else who can help me, so I talk to the voice inside my head… and it tells me I'm not a vampire."

Caroline gazes out at the geese again. Elena is suddenly very afraid for her friend. Caroline has always been the carefree one. Yes, she could be ditzy and insensitive, but she made it her life's mission to make sure that everyone else's life ran smoothly. This Caroline isn't ditzy, but she is right, she doesn't sound sane, either.

"And this is the girl you guys think we should let live?" Damon drawls.

Caroline's gaze snaps to Damon, and suddenly her eyes don't look like Caroline's eyes anymore. They're still hazel, but there's a… a _sheen_ to them, that's the only way Elena can describe it. She remembers Damon talking about how Caroline's eyes had turned silver and glowed during their altercation, and though her friend isn't yet that far gone, Elena feels a thrill of fear, this time for herself and her companions. Caroline is holding onto something dark within herself by a thread, and should that thread break Elena thinks that they could all easily end up dead.

Caroline snaps to her feet, and faces Damon, glaring.

"What are you doing with him?" she hisses angrily at Elena. "Do you know what he did to me? The way he used me…"

Caroline's voice trails off, and now she is staring at Elena who is unable to meet her gaze.

"Of course you knew," Caroline gives a bitter laugh. "You saw the bite marks. You knew, and you didn't do anything. You just let it happen."

"I gave you the vervain necklace," Elena replies weakly, and Caroline gives another bitter laugh, this one a bit wilder, and the silvery sheen in her eyes becomes stronger.

"Yes, because the necklace makes everything _all better_. You could have given it to me sooner. You could have told me about vampires and let me be forewarned about everything that's happened lately. It was you, wasn't it? That night. You really were the one that smothered me. What's up with the _Katherine _thing, Elena? A way to keep your conscious from feeling guilty? Wasn't really you, if you're not Elena, right?"

"Caroline, no," Elena replies, standing. She approaches her friend slowly, because that thread is getting ever thinner. "Look, sit down. We'll tell you everything. And then you can tell us your side… because you're scaring me, Care. And I want to help you."

"I'm scaring myself," Caroline replies in a whisper, the sheen finally leaving her eyes. "Keep Damon away from me, Elena. Or I can't promise I won't hurt him… or the voice won't hurt him… it's all mixed up in my mind. When am I me? When is the voice me? I'm losing my sanity."

Caroline sits down and buries her hands in her hair, and Elena sits next to her and rubs her back. She looks at Stefan over Caroline's head, and they share a worried look. Whatever has happened to Caroline is pushing her to the edge, and they both know that if they can't pull her back, Damon will do something that can't be undone.

"Tell me about everything," Caroline says, staring at the ground. "Don't leave anything out."

And so they do.

They tell her about Stefan and Damon being vampires, about Ric being a hunter. They tell her about Katherine and her history with the Salvatore brothers, and how she is Elena's ancestor. They tell her Bonnie is a witch. They tell her about everything that happened the night of Founder's Day. By the time they finish, Caroline seems to have gathered herself again. She isn't yet smiling, but Elena can see that essential spark of Caroline in her eyes once more and feels relief that, at least for now, her friend is herself again.

"When did life get so messed up, Elena?" Caroline asks after they finish their story. "You're dating a vampire and your femme fatale twin is running around killing people, Bonnie's a witch, and I'm… hearing things."

"Damon said you kicked his ass," Elena responds, grabbing Caroline's hand. Damon curses and growls behind them, but a sunny smile curves Caroline's lips and it warms Elena's heart.

"I did. Whatever I am, whatever this voice is, it kicks ass." Caroline's gaze goes distant for a moment, and her smile suddenly falls and Elena realizes that she must be hearing this mysterious voice. "Too bad it has homicidal tendencies. I'm not violent Elena… but whatever is happening to me? It could turn me violent."

"We won't let that happen, Caroline," Stefan replies. "Maybe you're not a vampire, but you're still something. Whatever it is, we'll help you learn to control it. I promise."

He reaches out and grasps the hand that Elena isn't holding. Caroline holds onto both of their hands as if they're lifelines and she's drowning.

"Thank-you."

Caroline feels much more centered the next day, after her conversation with Elena and Stefan. She still feels a little scared by the other presence in her mind, but the voice is being quiet, and Stefan's promise gives her hope that maybe everything will be okay.

That lasts until she gets to the Grill to meet with Elena and Stefan.

"He broke Jeremy's _neck_?" she hisses in disbelief when Elena tells her about what the jackass Damon had done the previous night. "I'm sorry, Stefan, but your brother is insane. And that's coming from the girl who talks to the voice in her head."

"I know," Stefan mutters, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm so sorry, Elena. God, you have no idea-"

"That's enough, Stefan," Elena cuts him off. "You're not in charge of controlling Damon. I don't blame you for what he does. I blame him. Thank God John gave him that ring."

"This is all totally insane. You realize that, right?" Caroline taps her fingers on the table and looks at the bar. Matt is working today, though he has yet to acknowledge her presence. They haven't spoken since the day she broke down on him in the hospital.

Elena sees where her gaze is, and gives her a smile.

"You should talk to him."

Caroline's gaze snaps back to Elena and she shakes her head frantically, waving her hands.

"No. No way. Right now, you need me. You said your relationship with Bonnie is still… strained, and your brother just had your neck snapped. Helping you deal with that is way more important than my teenage angst-fest with Matt."

"Really, Care, I'll deal with it." Elena reaches out and pats Caroline's hand. "Yes, it was horrible. No, I'm not going to just forgive Damon. But Jeremy is still alive, and with everything that's happened lately… you deserve some happiness. You deserve some _normal_. Talk to Matt."

Caroline bites her lip and looks over at the blonde boy. Matt is wiping down the bar and clearing away the glass that an early morning customer (i.e. Alaric) had left there. She reaches over to Elena and squeezes her hand, then leaves the table and makes her way to the bar. Perhaps the first step to figuring out this messed up situation and finding her normal again is… going back to normal. And that means finding out where she stands with Matt.

"Hey, Matt," she greets with a sunny smile, taking a seat on a stool across from where he is working.

"Uh, hi, Care," Matt replies, pausing in his wiping. "How… uh… how are things?"

_Any more breakdowns?_ Caroline can practically hear the thought in his head, and feels a sting for a moment. He's probably thinking about how much more stable Elena is, and wishing that it was her, not Caroline, sitting in front of him.

_Pathetic._

Caroline freezes as the voice makes itself known again. _Not now. Please, not now._

_A mortal boy. A mortal life. We are capable of so much more._

It's the first time the voice has really carried on a conversation, if that's what you would call it, with Caroline. And it couldn't come at a worse time.

"Caroline?" Matt asks, looking at her with worry. And that's when Caroline knows she has to let him go, because holding onto the beautiful human boy when she is falling into insanity isn't fair to him.

"I have to use the little girl's room," Caroline replies, her voice dead, and she rushes away from him. But she doesn't go into the washroom. Instead, she runs out the door, and away from the human boy she's pretty sure she could have loved.

Caroline is hiding out at the stoner's hangout in the woods when Elena finally finds her. She is here, because she knows no one else will be. Not even the drug addicts are willing to come this far into the woods these days, not after all the animal attacks that have been happening.

And isn't that a laugh. Animal attacks? It's been crazy ass vampires all along.

But Caroline isn't some pathetic drug addict that has to hide from vampires, so this seems to be the perfect place to retreat and mourn her once normal existence.

"Elena. You shouldn't be out here. It's dangerous," Caroline says when her friend approaches her.

"I was worried, Care. You rushed out of the bar so suddenly." Elena sits next to her. "It surprised me. I mean, you shouldn't be able to rush anywhere, considering that I killed you."

Caroline shoots to her feet, but Elena is faster.

But it's not Elena who is standing there, is it? Caroline curses herself for making such a foolish mistake. She knows what Elena was wearing today. She knows Stefan wouldn't let the brunette wander out here alone. And now that she looks closely at this vampire who so closely resembles her friend, she can see clearly that, despite the identical looks, the eyes are completely different. The same shade and shape, but Katherine's eyes are so very much colder than Elena's. She is the creation of five hundred years of living as a monster.

_Katerina_.

The hissed name also comes with a vision of swirling dresses and a time far before Caroline was born, and she can tell from the voice's tone that it is not only familiar with this twin of Elena's, but that it does not like her. But she can't feel it rising up as it did when they faced Damon. Instead, it, and the power it brings, sits there in Caroline's mind, just beyond her reach.

The voice is testing her, and as Katherine sends her flying painfully into a tree, Caroline has a terrible, terrible feeling that she is going to fail that test.

_**AN: And heeeere's Katherine. I adore this character. I adore writing this. The Katherine/Caroline confrontation was **_**almost**_** as fun to write as the Damon/Caroline confrontation from last chapter. And you get more of it in a week! As always, please leave me a review. I'll update again in a week.**_


	6. Come and See

_**AN: So, here we continue with the fight with Katherine. Please enjoy:**_

_**Four. Come And See**_

Caroline's skull connects with the tree, and her vision blurs as she lands painfully on the ground, her limbs askew. Katherine is far stronger than Damon was. She is also faster, and Caroline doesn't have time to recover before she's dangling a foot off the ground, Katherine's hand wrapped around her throat.

"I expected you to be a corpse. In fact, I'm positive that when I left you in the hospital, you _were_ one. Now, I've since heard that you had Damon's blood in you… but you're not a vampire, are you?" Katherine watches Caroline curiously as Caroline claws and scratches at her hand. The voice, and the power, still linger in the back of Caroline's mind, but she's not sure how to grasp that power. When she used it against Damon, the voice all but thrust it into her, and she is not sure how to make it work on her own.

_Remember_! The voice demands angrily.

_Remember what? You suddenly started talking to me four days ago, and now I'm just supposed to magically remember… I don't know what?_

If the voice had a body, Caroline was sure it would be pacing right now. She can feel its frustration, and it's only fueling her own. Caroline has always had the habit of crying when frustrated, and she's never hated that involuntary reaction more than she does when she feels the tears falling down her cheeks.

"Is poor little Caroline scared?" Katherine mocks. "You should be. I'm surprised that first toss didn't do more damage. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to try again."

Once more, Caroline is airborne. This time, when she hits the tree, the bark actually cracks under her back. Or maybe it's her back itself that cracks, because Caroline feels a searing pain run up and down her spine. This time, when she hits the ground, she is sobbing, fear and frustration and anger filling her.

_Remember_. The voice demands once more. _Remember and channel. Anger is good. Anger fuels us._

And the voice is right. Caroline can feel the anger, as if it were a live creature. It pulsates around her, and she can feel her strength increasing. Her spine cracks back into place, causing her to hiss in pain, but then she feels whole once more. The power of her anger is filling her, and she realizes she needs an outlet. She still doesn't know what she is meant to remember, but she feels as if the anger will burn her up if she doesn't find a way to channel it.

She gets to her feet and faces Katherine, who raises her brows in both surprise and grudging respect.

"You're stronger than I expected," Katherine muses. "I expected you to lie down and roll over for me… but maybe you'll be fun after all."

Caroline can hardly understand what it is that Katherine is saying. Blood is rushing in her ears, and she feels as if she is about to explode. The anger just keeps building… and building… and…

Caroline throws her head back, and she screams. And she screams. And she screams. She screams until all the anger is gone. And when it leaves her, she collapses to the ground, completely spent. She is aware enough only to realize that Katherine has gone, then she falls into the welcoming embrace of darkness.

Katherine has never felt such pain her life.

Katherine has gone through labour. She has hung herself. She has willingly subjected herself to the effects of vervain for years to build up immunity. She has been on the receiving end of aneurysms from witches of varying strengths. Katherine knows pain, and she can honestly say that this is the worst she's ever experienced.

And it was all because of that little blonde idiot, Caroline Forbes.

Katherine had had the girl in the palm of her hand. Caroline had been terrified of her, and been sobbing pathetically on the ground. Then something had changed. The eerie silver light that took over her eyes had been all the warning Katherine got before Caroline opened her mouth and _screamed_.

And what pain _that_ had caused. It had been as if dozens of witches had all been giving her aneurysms at the same time. And not weak little witches like the Bennett girl… no, the powerful witches that Katherine had dealt with in the past. The scream had shattered Katherine's ear drums and burst blood vessels throughout her body, including the ones in her brain and eyes. If Katherine hadn't been so fast, and had such a strong sense of self-preservation, she is positive she would have died in that forest.

No human, no _creature_, Katherine has ever come across has been able to make a noise like that.

Katherine would like to kill Caroline. It would be the smartest thing to do, and such a sweet revenge against the blonde bitch, too… but Katherine hasn't survived for so long by going up against dangerous enemies openly, and Caroline is obviously dangerous. No, Katherine is the type to make friends with the powerful, and then stab them in the back when they let down their guard. The last thing she wants to do is submit herself to the sad little cheerleader, but she wants to experience the pain of that shriek again even less.

If that means becoming Caroline's _BFF_, then that's what Katherine will do.

Katherine looks in her mirror and watches as the red disappears from her face and eyes, and her hearing slowly returns. Once she looks flawless once more, she grins a Cheshire grin and admires her reflection.

Yes, she'll befriend Caroline… just long enough to make sure that the knife is perfectly situated over her heart.

Caroline awakes to find herself in Stefan's arms. She can see the boarding house just ahead of them. She opens her mouth to speak, to ask what happened, but all that comes out is a hoarse croak. Stefan looks down at her and she sees relief in his eyes.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty. Think you can walk?"

Caroline knows that there is no way she'll be able to talk, so instead she nods. Stefan stops walking and sets Caroline down. He holds onto her shoulder and she grasps his forearm until they are both sure that she can keep her balance. Once she is standing on her own, Caroline takes a mental inventory of her body. Her voice is gone and her throat hurts and her legs are a little shaky, but there doesn't seem to be anything broken or otherwise out of place. Now that the grogginess has faded, she begins to remember her meeting with Katherine, and the knowledge that she isn't completely invincible up against vampires burns her. If the voice is going to drive her insane, the least it could do is hand over the power freely.

_If you remembered, I wouldn't need to _hand _you the power. It would be yours for the taking._

Once again, the long reply to her angry thoughts surprises Caroline, and sends a cold wave of dread down her spin, because she knows that she can never go back to who and what she was, and the sound of the voice is just a constant, terrifying reminder of that. Stefan tugs on her hand, pulling her toward the boarding house, dragging her out of her voice induced stupor.

"So… I found you by the old church in the forest. Wanna tell me why you were passed out there?" Stefan asks.

Caroline opened her mouth, but once again a croak was all she managed to form.

"Your voice is gone." Stefan watched her through narrow eyes. "Well, we have paper in the house. We'll have to use that for now."

They make their way into the boarding house, and Caroline takes a seat on the couch while Stefan digs out a pen and some paper. With both firmly in hand, Caroline looks at him and waits for him to start asking questions.

"What happened to you?" he asks.

Katherine, she writes down.

"I need some more information than that, Caroline."

I don't have any more information to give, Stefan.

Stefan sighs and runs his fingers though his hair.

"Since you're still alive, I assume that you must have used your… powers against Katherine. Is she still alive?"

Caroline has to think about that one for a moment. She remembers getting angry, and then screaming, but nothing more.

I assume she's still alive, if you didn't see her body, but I don't actually know. I wasn't exactly in control of myself at the time.

"The, ah, voice took over then?"

No.

Caroline knows without a doubt that it wasn't the voice in control against Katherine. It was completely Caroline… but Caroline doesn't know how to control the power like the voice does, and so she just let it loose in that scream. Looking at her answer, she decides to elaborate.

I was angry. So I screamed. Then I think Katherine ran. I'm not sure. The anger was burning me, and I had to release it.

Stefan takes a long time to read the fragmented story, and when he looks at Caroline again, he is wearing his "oh, crap, this is bad," face, which admitted isn't that different from his "it's Tuesday, " face, but there are minor differences and Caroline is beginning to be able to see them.

"Okay, so you got mad and screamed. Any idea why that would make Katherine run?"

Caroline shrugs and writes on the paper once more. Maybe she thought my insanity was contagious?

If Caroline had her voice, she would have squealed when the comment got a small smirk out of Stefan (yay, she got emotion from Mr. McBroodyPants!), but she has to settle for doing it mentally. Either her little outburst somehow drained her energy, or her throat is seriously injured, because it is not healing nearly as quickly as her other injuries since she was smothered have.

"You don't look hurt, except for your throat. I'm surprised she didn't get in a couple of good hits. Katherine is clever."

She broke my back throwing me into a tree. It healed when I got angry. I've never felt anything like it before, Stefan. It was like I was filled with pure power. Then, I was overflowing and I just had to scream, because it was the only way to let the power out.

"Do you know why your throat isn't healing?"

Caroline wrote out her theories, that she was either drained or her throat hurt that badly.

Stefan looked at her answers and sighed again. Caroline didn't blame him. She could go for a few good sighs herself.

"This isn't a whole lot to go on, Care," Stefan pointed out. "I'm afraid the only way to get answers may be for you to… this sounds really weird, but you may have to ask the voice."

I'm pretty sure you telling me that means that you're enabling my insanity. If I go all Jason on this town, I'm placing the blame squarely on you for telling me to embrace the crazy.

"I'm not telling you to _embrace the crazy_, I'm telling you to use the only source of information we have and try not to embrace the crazy. Seriously, Caroline, I've embraced the crazy. You don't want to go there."

Caroline has to tip her head away from Stefan to hide her smirk. Hearing him say "embrace the crazy," just sounds plain weird. He always looks like he should be off somewhere quoting Shakespeare and staring soulfully into Elena's eyes.

But, he also has a point. Right now, the only _person_ who seems to know anything about what's going on with Caroline is the voice. Caroline doesn't _want_ to speak to it, though. She wants to curl up in her bed and not wake up until she's realized this is all some awful nightmare, and that she and Matt are still together and working their way towards being in love. She wants to _forget_ the crazy, and actually acknowledging the voice, taking the first steps towards a conversation with it, will mean admitting that this is all real. That she really _did_ die, then come back as something still alive, but so not human.

Caroline sighs at the mess that her life has become and tucks her hair behind her ear, closing her eyes to try and set up contact with the voice. Stefan's voice stops her.

"Woah. What the hell is that, Caroline?"

Caroline's eyes snap open and she glares at Stefan angrily, grabbing the paper and scrawling out a message.

My attempt to contact the voice… which would be easier without the comments from the peanut gallery.

"No, I don't mean the eye closing. I meant your ears. They're _pointed_, Caroline."

Caroline's hands snap up to the appendages in question, and Caroline runs her fingers along the outside of the delicate shells. Sure enough, the tops come to distinct points. She runs to the mirror on the wall and stares in horror at what she sees.

With those ears, she looks like she's an elf-extra on the Lord of the Rings set.

What the hell is happening to her?

_You're waking up_, the voice replies, and the statement drips with smugness.

_**AN: And there's chapter 4. Thank-you to everyone who continues to read and review. For those wondering what the hell Caroline is, I've given you a pretty big clue in the upcoming chapter 7 for anyone that can catch it, so you have that to look forward to if you continue to read. Also, if you are waiting for the arrival of Klaus, I will say that this first part of the story follows the basic storyline of S2, so it won't be for a little bit, but I promise that parts 2 and 3 will have LOADS of him to make up for it. As always, please review!**_


	7. Changeling

**AN: So, here is chapter 5. It's my shortest update yet, sadly, but I promise that we're starting to get into the action of S2 in the next chapters. I have been getting a lot of "what is Caroline" questions. I obviously won't tell you that, but I will say that the powers she has come from a mixture of a couple things, and the reason for that will be made clear in future chapters. For now, here's:**

**Five. Changeling**

It takes Stefan exactly five seconds of trying to comfort a sobbing Caroline before he realizes that he is way out of his league and an emotional Caroline is simply something he cannot handle.

So, he calls in Elena.

Elena sits perched next to Caroline, rubbing circles on her back and reading the frantically scrawled story of what has happened. At least that's what Stefan assumes Caroline is doing. He can only understand about one out of every five words the blonde has written. Elena, however, appears to be fluent in Caroline's bad hand writing. Either that, or she has known her friend long enough to know when to nod her head and make sympathetic noises. Either way, the brunette calms Caroline down more in the first five minutes after her arrival at the Salvatore boarding house than Stefan had in the ten minutes it took Elena to arrive.

"Ric is doing research," Elena assures her friend. "If anyone will be able to figure out what's happening, it's Ric. We'll stop this, Caroline."

Caroline stares at Elena, who seems to think the reaction means that Caroline is reassured. Stefan, however, sees what Elena misses: despite her fear, there is a part of Caroline that does not want to stop what is happening. It makes Stefan think back to his own transition, and the power and freedom that came with becoming a monster, and he understands Caroline's feelings far better than Elena, as a human, ever could. Changing into something monstrous is terrible and horrifying, but the power that comes with it is sweet and addictive. Caroline meets Stefan's eyes over Elena's shoulder, and Stefan sees the moment when Caroline realizes he knows what she is feeling. There is both shame and defiance in her gaze, and she is daring him to judge her.

Stefan doesn't.

"As cute as this little girl party is, we have bigger issues than Barbie's mood swings."

Stefan nearly groans aloud when Damon saunters into the room. Caroline hisses at him, which Stefan takes as a good sign even if it sounds less than human, as it's the first noise she's managed to make since he found her. Even her sobbing had been eerily silent.

"She had a run-in with Katherine, Damon," Stefan says with a sigh. Damon pauses in the process of pouring himself a scotch and looks at Caroline curiously.

"Well, considering that Blondie's still alive, I assume Katherine had as much luck against her as I did."

"We don't really know," Stefan replied. "Caroline says she screamed, thinks Katherine ran away, and then she blacked out and woke up with no voice."

"A dumb Blondie? Can't say I don't approve."

Stefan has to use all his speed to get between Damon and Caroline when she leaps for him. He stumbles back several steps, surprised at how strong she is. It's one thing to hear about it from Damon, another to experience it first hand. Luckily, Caroline's ability to control her abilities is non-existent, and she unable to muster enough strength to get away from Stefan's grip.

"You have to calm down, Care," Stefan says. "I know you don't like Damon, and I really can't blame you. I don't like him half the time. But if we're going to help you, figure out what Katherine's up to, and survive it all, we need him."

The glare Caroline aims at him tells Stefan that she really doesn't agree, but Elena steps up next to them and lays her hand on her friend's arm.

"Stefan's right, Care. We need all the help we can get right now. What did you find out that's so important?" she aims the question at Damon who is watching the scene with wary amusement.

"Mason Lockwood is a werewolf. "

The declaration is met with shocked silence. After overcoming her surprise, Caroline moves away from Stefan and picks up her paper. She writes something out and holds it up.

Werewolves are real?

"No, I'm making it up for the hell of it. Obviously they're real, Blondie," Damon scoffs in reply. Caroline hisses at him again, and Stefan steps between them once more, to pre-empt any attacks.

"We didn't know they were real either until recently… and even then we were not positive. It's really more of a working theory that Damon has. A theory which has apparently been proven right," Stefan explains. Caroline nods her head, looking thoughtful, then applies pen to paper once more.

Could I be one?

Stefan considers the question. Werewolves are outside of his realm of knowledge. All they really know is what Caroline isn't, and she isn't human or vampire.

"Doubt it," Damon replies flippantly. "I had an… encounter with Mason. I came out the other side much better off than I did against you. But that's besides the point. We, and by we, I mean Ric and I, are going on a road trip to Duke. Ric thinks Isobel might have some research filed away that could help us."

Caroline is looking thoughtful again.

"What is it?" Stefan asks her. Caroline looks at him for a moment, biting her lip, then writes once more.

Could Tyler be one? The night of the accident, he was complaining about a noise, but you guys said that the device only affected vampires… but the mayor was affected, and Tyler was affected, and now you're saying that Mason is a werewolf. Too much coincidence.

"Thanks for the theory, Barbie, but I already put that together. Still, proud that you managed to think with all the peroxide that's hanging out with your brain," Damon drawls, tossing back the rest of his drink.

Caroline has hit her breaking point, and with a move so fast even Stefan has trouble following it, she scoops a letter opening up off a table and hurls it at Damon. The glass in his hand falls to the ground and shatters and Damon gives a yell of pain when the letter opener pins him to through the shoulder and into the wall. Caroline is in front of him before the letter opener even stops moving.

"So… stupid…" she hisses out angrily her voice hoarse and her eyes glowing silver. Elena backs into Stefan, and he can feel her shaking in fear. "But… Stef… Stefan right. Need you. For now."

With a twist of her wrist to make it more painful, Caroline pulls the letter opening out and Damon gives another yell, his arm coming up to grab the wound and his gaze angry on Caroline. She tosses the letter opener on the floor at his feet and backs away from him, the glow fading away from her eyes, but the silver never really leaving.

"Thanks… Stefan. Going. Talk later… Lena."

Then, Caroline is gone, and Stefan and Elena are left with a healing Damon and a new understanding of exactly why Caroline is freaking out so badly.

After leaving the Salvatore boarding house, Caroline finds herself sitting cross-legged on here bed trying to work up the courage to reach out to the voice. Stefan is right, it really is her only source of information… but Caroline is afraid that taking this step will be the first step in a downward spiral she won't be able to stop.

_If you wish to know something, ask. But you have to ask. I won't cater to a coward, little girl._

Caroline closes her eyes as the voice makes itself known, and takes a deep breath. This is the moment of truth. There will be no turning back, no pretending this isn't happening, if she takes this final step. With another deep breath, Caroline says good-bye to the life she knew and takes her first, hesitant step towards her new future.

**What am I?**

**AN: So, Caroline is taking baby steps towards embracing whatever it is she is. This is where the writing starts to get really fun for me, because Caroline's transition isn't that different from a vampire's. But, instead of blood, she just wants to be violent. Please leave me a review!**


	8. Conversation III

_**AN: So, Caroline is going to embrace the crazy and have a little chat with her voice. Sadly, the voice isn't exactly as informative as she would wish.**_

_**Conversation III**_

What am I?

I CANNOT TELL YOU THAT. ONLY SHOW. ONLY PUSH YOU TO FIGURE IT OUT ON YOUR OWN.

Why? If you and I are the same person, then why can't you tell me everything?

IT'S THE NATURE OF THE CURSE. IF YOU DISCOVER BEFORE YOU'RE READY, THEN EVERYTHING WILL BE RUINED.

Why were you cursed?

BECAUSE A WITCH COULDN'T ACCEPT THE FATE SHE WAS GIVEN, SO SHE CHOSE TO FIGHT IT, AND BLAMED ME WHEN SHE FAILED.

Was it your fault?

NO. I WAS AN EASY SCAPEGOAT.

What is happening to me? The ears. The screaming. My back healed, but my throat still hasn't. It makes no sense.

YOU ARE BEGINNING TO ACCEPT, AND SO YOU ARE BEGINNING TO TRANSITION. THE POWERS WE WIELD ARE MANY AND DANGEROUS… BUT YOU WEREN'T READY TO USE THE SCREAM YET. YOU ARE STILL TOO HUMAN. YOU WILL HEAL, BUT IT WILL TAKE TIME. HAD YOU USED THAT ABILITY ANY SOONER, THE DAMAGE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN IRREPARABLE.

Who are you to me?

I TOLD YOU, I AM _YOU_. I AM THE YOU OF CENTURIES PAST, AND I AM THE YOU OF THE FUTURE IF YOU WILL ONLY ACCEPT WHAT I OFFER.

And if I don't?

WE BOTH WILL BE CURSED TO PURGATORY. AGAIN.


	9. Cravings

_**Six. Cravings**_

Caroline doesn't like the feeling she has when she breaks away from the conversation with the voice. Purgatory? Really? Does she accept that at face value, or is it possible that voice lies? That ignoring it won't actually do anything to Caroline except, maybe, leave her normal again.

_There is no normal for you anymore. You destroyed that option when you snapped Damon Salvatore's neck._

Caroline is sure that it says nothing good about her sanity it that she can't tell if that thought belongs to the voice, or to her, but she's pretty sure that, either way, it's right. Perhaps normal had still been an option when she was in the hospital, but she's passed that point now. She's embraced the power the voice offers three times , and even if normal was still an option, Caroline is not sure she'd want to give that power up to achieve it.

Even when it was destroying her vocal chords, that power was… seductive. Addicting. Would she really want to go back to naïve little Caroline who got used by Damon when she _could_ be Caroline who can kick Damon's ass?

No. She couldn't. That means Caroline has to move forward. She has to embrace the crazy, despite was Stefan said, and learn how to harness this power without losing control. The next time Caroline sees Katherine, she doesn't want to fall apart. She wants Katherine to look at her, and to fear. Caroline has never been one to do things by halves, so if she is going to embrace this power welling inside of her, then that means she'll use it to become head bitch in Mystic Falls.

She gets her chance to start practicing when Mason decides it's a good idea to tell her mother that Damon and Stefan are vampires. Not that Caroline can entirely blame him for his new vendetta. Damon _did_ decide it would be a bright idea to try and kill him after all. That fact is the deciding factor in Caroline's determination that Damon is, in fact, the world's biggest idiot.

Caroline is with Elena in the woods looking for the brothers when Mason decides to play the part of stereotypical villain and reveal all to the duo.

"We aren't going to just let you kill them," Elena argues when Mason finishes ha-ha-ha-ing over his master plan. Personally, Caroline would be perfectly happy letting her mother kill Damon, but that Stefan is also taken means that Caroline has to agree with Elena. Stefan helped pull her back from the brink of insanity, him and Elena, and she owes them both.

Plus, she's kind of come to like Stefan as a person. She realizes now that he was right to turn her down all those months ago. They would have never worked. Stefan is far too much of a Byronesque hero type, and it would have driven Caroline _nuts_ within the first week. But as a friend? She can totally climb aboard the Caroline-Stefan friendship band wagon.

"Where are they?" Caroline demands, deciding that they've been catering to Mason's ego long enough and cutting right to the point.

"As if I'd tell you," Mason replies.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice," Caroline responds. She grasps within her mind for the tendrils of power she can feel reaching towards her. At first, her attempts fail, but then she can feel the guiding touch of the voice run across her mind, and with the guidance she grasps the power and pulls it toward her. Still guiding her, the voice gives a stern _stop_ when it feels Caroline has pulled enough power into her body.

Caroline stops.

This give-take relationship with the voice may work yet.

"Do you know what I am, little girl? You wouldn't stand a chance against me," Mason sneers.

"The hard way then? Excellent!"

Full of power, Caroline kicks Mason ten feet and into a tree. Before his vision can even clear from the impact, Caroline is in front of him and throwing him in the opposite direction. His attempts to bat at her as she lifts him a third time are pathetic, and Caroline actually laughs in his face. Poor little werewolf, only powerful on a full moon, and even then ruled so strongly by instinct that any creature with an iota of power can fight him off.

"You should have told me. Now you'll regret it," Caroline purrs at Mason, and punches him in the stomach, knocking the air clear out of him. Next, her elbow comes down hard on his back, and he hits the ground so hard that he is knocked out with a sickening crunch as his head hits dirt. She is reaching to pick him up for a fourth time when she feels a restraining hand on her arm. Caroline whirls on the interference so quickly that she sends Elena, to whom the hand belonged, flying to the ground.

Seeing Elena on the ground, staring up at her in fear brings Caroline back to herself. She covers her mouth with her hands as she realizes how close she came to turning on her best friend.

"Elena, I am so, so sorry," she says, stepping back from the brunette. Elena's face is filled with relief when she realizes that whatever had taken Caroline over in her brutalization of Mason has left her.

"It's okay, Care. Your emotions are heightened. You might not be becoming a vampire, but I think you're reacting similarly to if you were. The important things is that I'm fine and Mason" – she looks over at the werewolf and winces as she sees the damage the blond had done—"well, Mason is alive. But we still need to get to Stefan and Damon… and he can't tell us."

"Uh… I've got it," Caroline replies. At Elena's questioning look, Caroline motions at her ears. The pointed tips are carefully covered by her hairstyle, but Elena knows to what she refers. "Turns out that along with the new points, I also gained supersonic hearing. It's convenient. Just be very quiet."

Elena nods but says nothing, and Caroline closes her eyes, putting all her concentration into hearing her surroundings.

It doesn't take her long before she hears her mother's voice. She opens her eyes and grabs Elena's wrist.

"They're this way. We have to hurry."

The two girls run. Caroline continues to listen, and the sounds lead the duo to the old ruins on the Forwood property. That's when Caroline realizes she has another worry to face.

"Elena, I can't go down there. My mom is down there. If I go, she'll know that I am… whatever it is I am."

"Care, I need your help. You're not a vampire. She has no reason to hate you."

Caroline looks at her as if she's lost her mind.

"Seriously, Elena? Do you really think that Liz Forbes, head of the vampire removal crew, is going to differentiate between monsters? I may not live off blood, but I can still kill. It's my instinct to kill. At least a vampire does it for sustenance. What I did to Mason Lockwood? That was just because I enjoyed it."

Elena wants to say something comforting to her friend, but at this moment in time all she can think about is that her boys are about to be killed, and she is the only one willing to save them.

"Stay here if you want, but I'm going in," Elena responds. Without waiting for Caroline's response, she runs down the steps.

"Elena," Caroline hisses after her. "Don't be stupid… we crap."

Running a rough hand through her hair, Caroline mentally calls Elena every bad name she can think of, but she follows her reckless friend anyways.

She owes Elena and Stefan her sanity, after all. She can't turn her back on them now because she's afraid her mommy won't love her anymore.

That's the story Caroline tells herself, because facing the truth isn't something she is ready to do, and truth is that she's itching for a chance to hurt someone. Elena stopped her too soon with Mason. She wants to maim, perhaps even kill.

This time, she needs almost zero guidance from the voice to latch hungrily onto the power.

She reaches the bottom of the steps just as Liz is preparing to give the order to kill the Salvatore brothers. Running on pure instinct, Caroline rushes into the chamber, attacking the closest deputy. She has his arm to the elbow crushed and useless before anyone even registers her presence. The second deputy is dispatched just as brutally, and then held in front of her as a human shield while her mother tries to put a bullet through her head, assuming her to be a vampire come to help her buddies the Salvatores.

Once she can hear the chamber of Liz's gun click empty, Caroline tosses her deputy shield aside and is in front of her mother, wrenching the gun away from her.

"Caroline, stop," Elena says, interfering once more with Caroline's violent urges. Caroline turns, ready to put an end to the brunette's interference when her mother's horror struck voice penetrates the violent haze she has fallen into.

"Caroline?"

The look on Liz's face speaks volumes, and Caroline knows that she was right in her prediction of her mother's reactions. Liz will never see her as anything different from the vampires, and looking at the deputies, one dead and the other unconscious from the pain of his crushed limb, Caroline thinks that it would be understandable if Liz viewed her as something worse.

"Hi, Mom," Caroline says weakly, unable to offer any defence of her actions.

Within her mind, she can feel the voice brimming with pride.

"Here's her stuff." Caroline sets a duffle bag containing clothes and few necessities on the coffee table in the Salvatore boarding house. "How long will it take to get the vervain out of her system?"

"A few days. Three tops," Damon replies, taking the bag from the table. "You know, I may have been wrong to want to put you down, Blondie. You may turn out to be useful after all."

Caroline says nothing, but her gaze goes to Elena, who stands with Stefan just passed Damon's shoulder. She wonders if Damon would feel the same way if he knew how close she had come to killing Elena twice. Only Caroline and Elena know how tenuous a hold Caroline had had on her instincts, though, and Elena's soft smile tells Caroline no one else will ever hear about it, at least not from Elena.

Caroline both loves and believes her friend is absolutely insane in that moment. Elena should be hiding behind the Salvatore brothers asking for Caroline's obviously crazy head on a platter, but instead she keeps her silence. Had even promised Caroline that she would be there to help her learn control before the Salvatore's had re-joined the living.

Caroline thinks Elena is a far braver person than she is. Even the voice was impressed, and it has an extreme, unexplained dislike for anyone bearing that particular face.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk to her, Caroline?" Stefan asks.

Caroline shakes her head.

"You didn't see the look on her face, Stefan. I'm a monster in her eyes. I think it would be better if I were a vampire, at least then I could tell her what I am and that it will be okay. I can't give her that right now. It's better if she just… forgets. Everything. But, my family issues aren't important right now. Did you guys find out anything that can help us with Mason at Duke?"

The question is directed at Elena and Damon who had gone to search through Isobel's books and notes with Ric the previous day. Caroline had been busy trying to drag more information out of the voice and hadn't yet heard what they had learned.

"Not much," Elena replies. "Werewolves and vampire are enemies. The moon stone is said to be able to break the curse that forces wolves to transform on the full moon and keeps them from doing it at any other time. It can also break the curse that keeps vampires from walking in the sun. So, both sides want it."

"Also, a werewolf bite is lethal to a vampire," Damon adds. "Personally, I thought that one was the most important."

"Okay. So Mason wants the moonstone to end the curse on the werewolves?" Caroline clarifies. "That can't be good for you guys. If he can change at any time, then that means he can bite you at any time. Is there a cure for the bite?"

"Not that's recorded," replies Stefan. "But… we're not so sure that Mason wants to break the curse."

"Why not? He's a werewolf, right? What else would he want it for?"

"Katherine," Elena explains. "It turns out he's another one of her conquests."

"Oh." Caroline ponders that for a while. "Wow. So what does Katherine want it for? She has a daylight ring. It's not like she needs the curse broken."

"That's the million dollar question, Blondie. And you're going to be the one to figure it out," Damon responds.

"Me?" Caroline replies incredulously. "Katherine and I aren't exactly BFFs, Damon. How am I going to find anything out from her?"

"You beat Katherine. You're a seventeen year old cheerleader, and you sent her running. She's not going to forget that, Caroline. She's been biding her time, but at some point she's going to approach you. Katherine isn't stupid. She's not going to attack you head on. She'll try to get to know you, find out your weaknesses, and then exploit them. We need you to let her, and to find out what she's after. Please, Caroline?"

If it had been Damon asking her, Caroline would have scoffed, flipped her hair, and stalked away. But this is Stefan, and he has been so incredibly good to Caroline since she woke up and found out that the supernatural was real. She will forever owe him, and so she can't say no.

"I'll try, Stefan… but I'm not risking my life any more than I have to. If Katherine tries to kill me, and I'll fight back." That's the best Caroline can and offer, and they'll have to take it or leave it.

They take it.

With a new mission, Caroline leaves the house and her mother. She is trying her hardest not to think about Liz and what she must be thinking of the monster her daughter has become. That becomes harder when Caroline enters the house. There are so many memories of her mother here. Memories of fights and talks, and all the things that used to happen in Caroline's life when she was normal. There is no normal now. Instead, she has to wait for a phone call from Damon Salvatore telling her that her mother has been compelled and she can come pick her up.

The thought hurts, and Caroline blames that emotion for her inattention. One minute, she in unlocking her front door, and the next she is pressed against it, the doorknob digging painfully into her back, and Katherine holding her in a grip at her throat.

"Didn't you learn _anything_?" Caroline snarls. She has had enough practice in the past few hours that the power enters her with barely a thought, and Caroline's hands come up and send Katherine stumbling back. "You can't just attack me like that, Katherine. Next time, I just might kill you."

"You're getting better," Katherine notes. "Last time, I had to break your back and strangle you before you could do anything, and your reaction had no control. You can summon it at will now… but can you control it?"

Caroline expects an attack at the end of Katherine's musings, and her muscles tense in preparation, but Stefan is right. Katherine is not stupid, and she is not going to risk Caroline killing her in a momentary loss of control. She instead leans against the porch and surveys the blonde in front of her.

"I want an alliance," she says after a moment. "You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours."

"And what could you possibly offer me that would make me want to turn against my best friend? That's what you'd want my help with, right? Elena and the Salvatores? Not happening, _Kat_." Caroline turns back to her door and unlocks it, swinging it open.

"Not even if it means keeping that delicious Matt Donovan alive?"

Katherine's words make Caroline pause as she's about to cross the house threshold. Katherine notices and laughs.

"We're only as strong as our weakest link, Caroline. You could have all the power in the world, and you'd _still_ be weaker than me, because you care about Matt. And Matt is weak, a human. So… are you going to invite me in so we can chat, or should I go to the Mystic Grill and have a little _snack_?"

Caroline glares at Katherine, helpless and pissed off and so very, very mad at herself. Why didn't she think of Matt? Matt, who is human and all alone and susceptible to compulsion. Caroline thinks of how angry she had been at Elena for not telling her about vampires and giving her vervain to protect herself with, and Caroline mentally berates herself for doing exactly the same thing to Matt. Matt who she could have fallen in love with so very easily if life had only taken a different path. Matt who is kind and caring and so very sweet and who doesn't deserve to be subjected to this dark, terrifying world of vampires and the unknown.

Without turning from Katherine, she backs over the threshold of the house. Then, praying that Elena will somehow, someday, forgive her, she steps to the side and motions with her hand to the interior.

"Please come in, Katherine."

**AN: So, even with Caroline being the more powerful, Katherine still managed to get to her. Manipulative little bitch… I miss her on the show. And so, Caroline is also starting to learn how to use her power. Of course, with that power comes those cute little urges to hurt, maim, and kill. I don't mind, though. Writing the scenes where Caroline beats people up are my favorite parts. As always, please Review!**

**And now for something having absolutely nothing to do with VD, but I'm saying it anyway: if you haven't seen "Rise of the Guardians," go see it right now! It's amazing, beautifully animated, and is not getting nearly enough love at the box office. I've already seen it twice in 3D (one of the first movies I've seen where the 3D actually adds something), and I would keep going again and again, but I don't have enough money. Sadly, that's the life of a University student. But still, go see it! You won't regret it.**


	10. Shake Hands With The Devil

**A/N: Sorry for the three weeks of no updates. First it was exams. Then it was Christmas. And the next thing I knew it had been far too long. I have up to 10 finished, so there's really no excuse, but sometimes life just happens. If you read closely, there's a pretty big hint as to what Caroline really is in this chapter. Please enjoy!**

**Seven. Shake Hands With The Devil**

The voice has been annoyed with Caroline since she spoke with Katherine three days ago.

It wanted Caroline to rip Katherine's head off, to show her that messing with them only brought you pain and death. Caroline kind of wanted to do that herself. But Katherine was no idiot, and she had made sure that hadn't been an option.

_"You should take better care of your boyfriend, Caroline. I have him compelled. If he doesn't hear back from me within the next hour, he's going to kill himself. So let's talk."_

And talk they had. Katherine had been very clear in what she wanted Caroline to do. Elena and Stefan were breaking up, or at least that's what Katherine had ordered them to do. It was Caroline's job to make sure they _stayed_ broken up, and didn't try to play Katherine for a fool.

Caroline had listened to Katherine's plans with only half an ear. The other half was too busy listening to exactly what the voice had thought of the situation. The use of the word "scurvy" made Caroline wonder exactly what this voice was, because that wasn't part of her vocabulary.

Now, Caroline sits in the Grill watching Matt clear off tables far away from hers while she waits for Elena and Bonnie to join her. She had gotten a call from Elena that morning, telling her that it was time to bring Bonnie into the know about Caroline's… situation. Caroline wasn't sure she agreed with the decree at the time, and still isn't sure as she sits and waits for her friends, but Elena had promised that she would set the stage for the whole story, and would only bring Bonnie if she seemed open minded.

Part of Caroline hopes Bonnie won't come. Maybe then one friend will be safe from this monster she's becoming, because Caroline's gaze has wandered away from Matt and over to a pair of guys playing pool that Caroline recognizes from the football team. Once, Caroline would have been admiring their very admirable physiques, but now she's contemplating how very easy it would be to saunter over to them and create some tension.

She could have them coming to blows in minutes…

Caroline shakes her head and turns away.

This has been happening more and more often since the day she saved the Salvatore brothers. She's been having these thoughts that she's never had before, but she knows she can't blame them on the voice. The voice is actually somewhat _impressed_ with the thoughts she's been having. In between fits over Katherine, it's been telling her what a quick student she is.

It's why she's been avoiding Elena, Stefan, and pretty much anyone else she considers herself close to. She's tried to tell herself it's because of Katherine's plot, but the truth is that Caroline is afraid of hurting her friends. She's afraid of what she'll do if she can't fight off the temptation that chaos offers.

_Come and see. Take peace from the earth and make men slay each other, Caroline my dear._

The words, spoken in that silky smooth voice that is hers yet not, sound important to Caroline. As if all the questions she has are right in front of her, but she is too blind to see them.

Her thoughts are derailed when Elena and Bonnie sit down across from her. She's been so lost in her contemplation of the football players and her thoughts of Katherine and chaos that Caroline didn't realize her friends had entered the Grill, so she startles.

"Woah, are you okay?" Elena asks, her hand reaching out as if to soothe Caroline.

Caroline gives a nervous laugh and tries to shake away the chills that the voice has given her.

"I'm fine. Perfect as I can possibly be when I'm going insane. So. Elena told you all about my… situation?"

The words are addressed to Bonnie, but it is Elena to answers the question.

"I gave her the basic outline. We don't know what you are, but it's not a vampire or a werewolf, and that we could use her help in figuring out how to fix it."

"Caroline doesn't want to be fixed, Elena," Bonnie replies, her voice cool. Her eyes are scrutinizing Caroline, who feels naked under the gaze. Bonnie looks suspicious and so very distant from Caroline that it causes her a pang. This used to be her best friend. Now she is her judge and jury.

"Bonnie, you said you'd give her a-"

"You're right, Bonnie," Caroline replies, interrupting Elena. "I _don't_ want to be fixed. I just found out I live in a town full of vampire, werewolves, and witches. I was used, abused, and discarded like yesterday's garbage by Damon Salvatore. I was _smothered_ by Katherine in some sick game she's decided to play. So no, I don't want to go back to being helpless little Caroline. As I am now, I actually stand a fighting chance against the creatures here."

"Elena said you've been feeling violent urges. Vampire or not, you're still a monster if you go around killing humans," Bonnie retorts, her voice still cold.

"Because humans are the only creatures that matter, right Bonnie? Humans never kill each other, wage war, destroy the innocent. No, it's all _vampires_. Get over yourself. Vampires are no more monsters than the humans they feed on or the girl who would have killed every vampire in this town if given a chance."

Caroline isn't sure where the rant came from. When she first learned about vampires, and remembered what Damon had done to her, she had thought much the same as Bonnie. Vampires bad, voice worse, humanity the state to which she aspired.

Now, though, she knows differently. She's still not sure about herself. Bonnie may be very right when she calls Caroline a monster, but she is sure that Stefan is a good guy. Even Damon, who Caroline still cannot stand, doesn't deserve to die because he's a vampire. He deserves to get his ass kicked every chance Caroline gets for what he did to her, but he doesn't deserve to die.

And Bonnie sure as hell doesn't deserve to sit on a high horse and be their executioner.

"You don't have to accept me, Bonnie," Caroline says. "Elena and Stefan have. If you choose to write me off, then go ahead. But don't act like you have a moral high ground here. Human life isn't the only life worth saving. I don't want to give up the powers I have"—Caroline sees Elena's shocked expression and feels that she, at least, deserves an explanation—"I can fight back now, Elena. I'll never be a victim again. I don't _want_ to be a victim again. So, I don't want to be _fixed_, but I do want to understand what I am." Caroline looks Bonnie straight in the eye. "I don't want to be a monster, Bonnie. I don't want to kill or hurt anyone. I just want to be able to protect myself and the people I love. Help me find out what I've become, so I can learn to control it."

Bonnie and Caroline stare at each other for several minutes, neither willing to back down, until Bonnie finally breaks eye contact first.

"Fine. I'll see if I can find anything… but," Bonnie cuts off and looks down at her hands, obviously unable to come up with the words.

"I don't want to lose you as a friend, Bonnie," Caroline says softly. "But I get it if you need time. I was kind of pissed when I found out you were a witch and didn't tell me about any of this. You deserve that right, too."

Bonnie nods her head once, and then stands.

"I have to go. I'll think about what you said, Care… and I'll see if I can learn anything."

Caroline and Elena both watch Bonnie leave. They sit in silence for a while before Elena finally breaks it.

"Are you sure that you're okay with what you've become? I saw you that day in the forest… and you scared me, Care."

"I scared myself, Elena," Caroline replies softly, tracing the pattern in the tabletop. "But I'm sure. Being a human in this town isn't exactly safe anymore, and the Salvatores can't keep you alive _and_ watch over Matt and Tyler and Jeremy and every other human out there. They need help, and I'm able, _willing_, to supply that help."

"Speaking of Matt…" Elena trails off and looks over to where he is putting away clean glasses behind the bar. "Have you spoken to him?"

"Not since that day Katherine attacked me. That boats sunk, I'm afraid. Until I know more about me, it wouldn't be safe or fair to him. And speaking of sunk boats, I heard about you and Stefan. I'm sorry."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. That… It was pretty horrible. I hate Katherine."

The words were right, but the tone was wrong, and once again Caroline has flashbacks to Elena-as-Ophelia and she cursed, causing Elena's eyes to widen in surprise.

"Please tell me that the two of you aren't doing something stupid like _faking _it," Caroline growls.

"Look, you can't tell anyo-"

"I have to!" Caroline almost shouts. She lowers her voice when she sees half the bar staring at them. "Katherine threatened Matt, Elena. I'm her little spy on you and Stefan. If you guys are faking, and she finds out I didn't tell her…"

Caroline trails off with raised brows and Elena's breath catches.

"She'll kill Matt?"

The two girls look at their friend once more. He glances up and sees them staring, and raises his eyebrows in question. Caroline quickly looks away, and kicks Elena to get her to do the same.

"You have to tell her," Elena says. "Stefan and I… we'll deal with it. We'll figure something out."

"I hate this," Caroline hisses, her hands gripping her water glass so tightly that fine cracks begin to develop along the glass edges. "I want to rip Katherine's head off, Elena. I want to hunt her down and kill her, for good."

"I get that, Care," Elena replies, reaching out and pulling Caroline's hands off the glass. "But you have to calm down. Your eyes are changing again."

Caroline closes her eyes tightly, willing the power at the edge of her conscious away. The voice grumbles angrily. It wants Caroline to hunt down Caroline and do all the things Caroline is imagining doing. Caroline hisses at it angrily, the noise actually coming out her mouth, and Elena looks at her in surprise.

"Sorry. It's… it's the voice. It likes to ah… it likes it when I get angry."

"Did you ever try talking to it?" Elena asks. "Stefan mentioned that he told you that might be the best way to get answers. Everything's been so crazy with Katherine and Mason that I haven't had the chance to talk to you. To try and help you."

Elena looks incredibly guilty, and Caroline reaches out for her hand.

"You _have_ helped, Elena. You set up this meeting with Bonnie. And you and Stefan were the only things that kept me sane at first. I feel like crap that I'll be repaying you by betraying you to Katherine."

"It's okay, Care. I totally get-"

Caroline holds up a hand to cut off Elena off.

"It's _not_ okay," she says firmly. "Don't pretend it is. I'm sorry I let it happen. As for the voice… it said that… it's so confusing, Elena. It says that it's _me_, but that it can't tell me anything because of a witch's curse. It makes no sense, but at the same time I can tell it's telling the truth. It's like there's two mes in my head; the me I always was, and the voice, and they're so completely different, yet so _similar_."

Elena blows out a deep breath.

"Bonnie will look and see if there's anything. And I'm here for you, Care. I swear, starting now, we'll make you our first priority. We'll figure this out."

"No," Caroline replies. "Right now, Katherine is the first priority, for _all _of us. Once this thing with her is done, _then_ we'll figure out what to do about me. I have it under control right now."

"Are you sure?" Elena's brown eyes are worried, and Caroline feels guilty that she's put that look there when her friend already has so much to deal with.

"Positive. Now go. I can hold off telling Katherine anything for an hour or two. Go and talk to the Salvatores. Figure something out."

Elena nods, and grabs her purse, standing up.

"I'll call you later," she promises, and Caroline nods.

_Katerina will kill everyone she loves,_ the voice murmurs.

"I know," Caroline murmurs, so quietly she hardly hears her own voice.

_You love her._

"What is your point?"

_I loved like that once_, Caroline receives a flash, flashing green eyes and a wicked smile, and she feels a pang in her heart. There is nothing romantic about her feelings, but she would die for the owner of those eyes, that smile.

"Who is that?"

_You'll know, someday. We'll be with him again. You have to stop Katerina._

"If this is some crazy plan to make me like you, forget it. You don't even like Elena."

_You love her. I am you. I love her, too._

Caroline realizes the voice is speaking nothing but the truth. It hates Katherine and would love to see her dead. But Elena? There is nothing but love for the human brunette.

For the first time, Caroline faces a very frightening truth. One she's been avoiding since her "death."

The voice is no longer a thing to her. It _is_ her.

**AN: So, the voice **_**is**_** Caroline, which is kind of freaking her out because it means that **_**she's**_** the one with all these violent urges. Next chapter, we go to the masquerade ball, and the chapter after that we meet Elijah. The story starts to get a little more AU after that meeting because of reasons you will discover when I put up chapter 10. As always, please review. I love to hear what everyone thinks.**


	11. Masquerade

_**A/N: So, it appears no one caught the hint last chapter as to what Caroline is. That just means more fun for me as I read the guesses everyone has and laugh as no one guesses right. I will tell you, that it's a mixture of a couple of things, one of which will be revealed next chapter. Until then, please enjoy:**_

_**Eight. Masquerade**_

The thing about realizing the voice is really just her, is that it really doesn't change anything for Caroline. So she admits that she has homicidal tendencies? She still reports to Katherine like a loyal little dog. She still feels like the lowest of lows when she rushes to Elena's side in the hospital as she cries over Jenna, who Katherine compelled to stab herself. She is still shocked to find out Damon has killed Mason Lockwood.

She's still grossed out when she helps Damon and Alaric bury the werewolf's body.

The only thing that's changed is that she can no longer view the voice as a thing that is useful, but completely separate from her. Now, it is an extension of her.

With this realization, the dreams come.

They start off as flashes. Mostly, they revolve around the man with the green eyes and wicked smile. Those flashes make Caroline feel happy, they make her feel as if she has come home. She loves that man, though she is not _in_ love with him. He is still home to her.

Caroline finds herself yearning for him, for that feeling of home. She lacks that these days. Her mother has returned from her stay at the Salvatore house, and their relationship is much like it was before any of this happened. Liz doesn't understand Caroline, and Caroline doesn't try to make her. Instead, she keeps up the façade of teenage angst and sarcasm as a carefully built wall against her mother.

Caroline looks at a relationship with Liz much like she looked at her relationship with Matt after the accident. It is unfair to them, to make them care for her when she doesn't know what the future holds for her. Especially now. Caroline knows that she will put in her time in Mystic Falls. She will finish high school, and smile as she receives her diploma, but then she'll leave. She will find the owner of those green eyes and then…

Then, Caroline has no idea what will happen. She still has no idea who that man is; just that she belongs at his side.

For now, though, she is still in Mystic Falls, and Katherine has shown that she is an even bigger threat than first assumed. She wants the moonstone, though no one knows what for, and she has demanded that the Salvatores hand it over.

And so, the brothers, Elena, Caroline, Bonnie, and Jeremy plot.

It is a unanimous decision that it is time to bring Katherine down. She has played with them one too many times, and it is time for it to end. Caroline wants to be the one to strike the final blow, but the honour is instead handed to Stefan and Damon. Caroline can tell by the way Elena avoids looking at her that this had been the brunette's idea. Now that she knows Caroline enjoys her powers, she is trying to keep Caroline away from situations that require her to use them. Caroline wants to be angry with her friend for making decisions like that for her, but she can't. She knows Elena is worried, so she will allow her this one thing to make her feel better. Caroline will avoid using her powers in front of her friend… but in private is a very different matter.

In private, Caroline has conversations with the voice, who is becoming less and less vocal as Caroline discovers more about herself. She analyzes the dreams and grasps onto any bit of information the voice gives her regarding them. There is still a separation between the two consciousnesses that inhabit Caroline's body, but it is becoming less obvious with every passing day.

Right now, the voice is angry with Elena for interfering in their chance to take out Katherine. Caroline soothes it, pointing out that it doesn't matter who takes the vicious harpy out, so long as it gets done. That calms the voice somewhat, but it still doesn't quiet completely until Caroline assures it that they will watch the situation between Katherine and the Salvatores like a hawk and step in the moment it looks like they are losing control of the situation. It is an easy to concession to make as it is something Caroline planned to do anyway.

As for her part in the plan, Caroline will have to put all her acting skills to the test. It is her job to lure Katherine to the room Bonnie will spell to entrap vampires. If Katherine suspects anything, she will flee, and Caroline's friends will pay the price. That is unacceptable.

And so it is that Caroline prepares for the masquerade being held at the Lockwood mansion. She dresses carefully and does her hair and makeup and the dozen other little things that she's always been so meticulous about. It's a trait she and the voice share, this deep set vanity. Caroline supposes that it only makes sense. After all, the voice is her. It expresses the darkest parts of her, but it is still her, and Caroline is nothing if not controlling and neurotic. Murderous impulses or not, that will never change.

Once she is sure her appearance is perfect and that her hair is carefully done to hide her pointed ears, a styling must Caroline has adopted since they appeared, she makes her way to the masquerade. Her job is to mingle and wait for Jeremy to give her the signal to make her move. So, that's what she does. She smiles at the various city officials who are present and makes small talk. She studiously avoids Matt, and she notes with a sort of detached interest that Tyler Lockwood is acting like even more of a douchebag than usual, and she wonders if it has to do with the werewolf gene.

Finally, she gets the text. _You're up_.

Smiling politely at the mayor, Caroline waits until there's an opening in the conversation, and excuses herself. She wouldn't have been involved in the conversation in the first place, except that it involved the functions she would be helping to plan in the upcoming year as Miss Mystic Falls.

Caroline thinks that it's a good thing Elena didn't win the pageant. Popular and kind as she was, Elena didn't have half of Caroline's kick ass planning skills.

Caroline shakes her head a little and makes her way towards the washroom under the guise of needing to powder her nose. When she's almost to the washroom and no Katherine has appeared, Caroline begins to worry that the plan has failed.

As it turns out, she should have never doubted Stefan's knowledge of the vampire bitch.

Caroline is reaching for the door knob when Katherine grips her hand and pushes her up against the wall.

"What are Damon and Stefan up to?" Katherine hisses. "I just had little Gilbert trying to lure me to the lake."

"I don't know," Caroline replies, gripping Katherine's hand and wrenching it back until she hears the bones in her wrist break with a satisfying crack. "But attacking me? Really not the way to get answers."

Katherine growls and twists her wrist back into position so it heals right.

"You're right," she replies, her voice turning far too sweet. "I think I saw Matt here, maybe I should attack him instead."

Caroline considers ending it then. Killing Katherine is greatly tempting and Caroline's hands twitch as she eyes Katherine's throat. A hard enough wrench, and she could separate Katherine's smirking face from the rest of her.

Caroline reminds herself of the plan. They want to know why Katherine wants the moonstone so bad. And Stefan wants to be the one to kill her. After everything the brunette put the Salvatores through, Caroline figures that they deserve the right to killing her.

"I don't know about any plot. I'm your little spy, remember? They don't trust me with things like that."

"Oh, really?" Katherine purrs. "And why don't I believe that? Where's the moonstone, _Care_? Tell me, or Matt dies."

Caroline is getting _really_ sick of hearing that threat. Luckily, she won't have to any more by the end of the night.

"Bonnie has it," Caroline grinds out, not having to feign her anger at being forced to reveal such a thing.

"And where is Bonnie?" Katherine prompts.

Caroline sighs and her shoulders sag.

"She's upstairs."

Katherine smirks the smirk of someone who is certain of their victory, and Caroline really wants to slap the look off her face.

"Lead the way." Katherine motions for Caroline to proceed her up the steps. With Katherine at her back, Caroline allows a small smirk of victory of her own.

Once Katherine is in the room Bonnie has spelled, Caroline allows herself to laugh.

"You're so arrogant. Really, Katherine, I could have killed you at any point tonight. No one would have cared. No one would have _mourned_. The only thing that's kept you alive is Matt. Luckily for you, I won't be your executioner tonight."

Katherine hisses at Caroline from across the barrier she cannot cross. Caroline looks over Katherine's shoulder, and her hisses silence, her shoulders straighten.

"Stefan."

"Katherine," Stefan replies. He looks at Caroline and nods. Katherine turns to look at her again as well, and Caroline gives her a mocking little wave.

"Good-bye, Katherine."

Her part of the plan complete, Caroline is just starting to enjoy herself when she hears a commotion coming from the mayor's office. She can make out the angry tones of Matt and Tyler, and she follows the sounds. Tyler and anger aren't a good combination, not with his werewolf gene.

When she enters the office, the two boys are rolling on the floor, a girl Caroline recognizes from school watching. Sarah, Caroline thinks her name is.

"What the hell?" she snaps, bending down and ripping Matt off of Tyler, sending the blonde stumbling back towards the wall. Tyler hops to his feet, and his wild gaze darts between Matt and Caroline.

Matt comes rushing forward and again, and Caroline once again intercepts him.

"Matt, stop!" she cries, shoving him back again.

"I can't," Matt gasps in reply, trying to push passed Caroline to get and Tyler. Caroline feels a rush of anger as she realizes that Matt is under compulsion. Katherine's most likely. For whatever reason, she wants a werewolf. With Mason gone, she wants Tyler to take his uncle's place.

"Damn bitch," Caroline mutters, driving her elbow hard enough into Matt's face to send him to the ground unconscious.

Tyler stares at her, and after a beat Caroline realizes exactly what it is she's done.

"Oh my God. Matt, are you okay? Matt, can you hear?" she asks, kneeling next to Matt and gently patting his face.

Caroline hears Sarah move away from the desk, then she speaks, her voice sounding almost robotic.

"Matt failed, so I can't."

Caroline looks up to see Sarah going at Tyler with a letter opener.

"Tyler, look out!" she shouts, and Tyler spins around. The letter opener catches his shoulder, and he shoves Sarah away from him in surprise. The girl stumbles back and falls, her head hitting the desk on the way down with a sickening thud.

Silence reigns in the room. Caroline stares at Tyler, who is staring at the utterly still body of Sarah in shock. Caroline stands and walks to kneel at Sarah's side, her fingers going to her pulse.

"She's dead," she says after a moment.

Tyler stumbles back and grasps his head, a pained moan, almost animalistic, coming from his mouth.

"Tyler?" Caroline asks, feeling panicked by the disaster that's occurring. "What's going on?"

_Transition. He's awakened_, the voice murmurs, almost sympathetically, a moment before Tyler's head shoots up and he looks at Caroline with eyes that are glowing gold. Then, he grabs his head and moans again, and the gold fades away.

Caroline brutally tramps down the panic that is trying to take her over. Looking at Tyler, she knows that he will be useless in the questioning they will soon be facing. Luckily, Caroline has always been good at compartmentalizing. Right now, she will come up with a story to tell the mayor, to tell her mother. Once she is home and safely alone, she will allow herself to panic.

She tells her story flawlessly. Matt and Tyler were arguing, and Sarah started to step in to soothe tempers, but she stumbled over her heels and hit her head. By the time she reached the ground, she was dead. Mostly, it is the truth. After all, Tyler and Matt _were_ fighting. It just eliminates the blame for Sarah's death.

It's not until Tyler confronts her afterwards that she makes her error. Rather than acting completely clueless about what had happened to Tyler, she asks him if he's healed. And Caroline curses herself the whole way home afterwards.

_**A/N: So, now the story pace will pick up. Next chapter, we meet Elijah, who thinks he has an idea of what Caroline could be. Next chapter will also be where the story veers into AU territory, as Caroline's presence messes with the plans Elijah originally had. Please leave me a review and I'll update soon-ish.**_


	12. The Original

_**AN: So, here it is: the chapter of Elijah. It's one of the shorter chapters, but I hope this first original sighting might make up for that. Enjoy…**_

**Nine. The Original**

Caroline is nervous at school.

She is dreading the moment Tyler approaches her and demands answers she doesn't have.

Her dread is interrupted by a text from Stefan.

Elena is missing.

So, on top of the dread of seeing Tyler, Caroline is now also worried about Elena. Caroline wants to skip school and help in the search, but Stefan tells her there is no point. Bonnie is working on a locator spell, but until she has Elena's location there is nothing anyone can do but wait.

So, Caroline sits in class and when Tyler tries to confront her, she plays the clueless idiot. She can tell he doesn't buy her act, but she is confident he won't do anything stupid in front of so many witnesses.

She is wrong.

"What do you want, Tyler?" she demands when the boy intercepts her as she is leaving. She has yet to hear anything regarding Elena and is starting to get _really_ worried. Caroline doesn't want to deal with Tyler right now.

"I want to know what _you_ know," Tyler growls in reply. Go to class and watch MTV and Jeopardy, and you will. If that's all?"

Caroline turns to go, but Tyler grabs her arm to stop her.

And Caroline snaps.

She spins swiftly, her hand grasping Tyler's throat and she shoves him into the bus next to them. He struggles, but an un-changed werewolf's strength is _nothing_ to Caroline's and she waits until Tyler stops his struggling.

"Done? Good. I don't have time for this, so you're going to leave me alone. Okay?"

Tyler is staring at her wide-eyed.

"You're stronger than me. How?"

"I just am. That's all you need to know," Caroline replies, releasing Tyler's neck. "I can't help you with your issues."

Caroline turns to leave again, not looking back even as she hears Tyler kick a garbage can behind her.

She is the last person who should be helping newbies to the supernatural world.

Caroline finally makes it home, only to come face to face with the Salvatore brothers.

"It's Elena," she says as soon as she sees them. "What's happened? Is she okay?"

"Calm down, Caroline. Bonnie's got a lock on her location. We're headed there now," Stefan replies, resting his hands on Caroline's shoulders to calm her panic.

"And you're coming with us," Damon adds from where he leans against the car.

"Okay," Caroline responds, opening the passenger door. Then she pauses and frowns at Damon. "Wait. Why would you want me to come? I thought you thought I was dangerous."

"You are dangerous," Damon responds. "But, you haven't killed anyone that wasn't a danger to us, and you seem to be able to resist trying to punch me every time you see me now. You're dangerous, but whoever has Elena will just see a pretty little cheerleader they assume is human. That makes you our perfect little weapon."

Caroline rolls her eyes because the explanation is just so… _Damon_. It's also true that she no longer feels the desire to punch him every time she sees him. Oh, Caroline will never _like_ the eldest Salvatore, but she can respect that he cares for Elena. She will be his perfect little weapon if it means saving her friend.

"Fine. Let's go." She tosses her bag into the back seat and clambers in next to it. She ignores the look Stefan gives Damon over the top of the car and hits the back of the seat. "Come on, boys. Elena is a danger magnet. If we don't hurry, she'll be dead before we can save her."

That gets the pair moving.

The house is a mansion. It's also kind of run down.

Caroline figures that it's typical that Elena would be locked up in something right out of _The House on Haunted Hill_.

"Elijah is in there," Damon murmured quietly.

"Who is Elijah?" Caroline asked, equally quiet.

"One of the original vampires," Damon smirks at Caroline's look. "I've been doing my homework. This is where we'll need you, Barbie. You think Katherine is tough? This guy is twice as old and one of the vampires that spawned the rest of us."

Caroline has to reach out and grasp Stefan's arm as she is rocked by one the voice's memories. A village. And a family. Six children; five boys and a girl. And then _blood_. And there is sadness, and one of them is dead. Then there is reawakening and more blood, but this time it's the remaining five causing it, rather than mourning it.

"What's wrong?" Stefan asks, grasping her arm and steadying her.

"I… the voice _knows_ the Originals, Stefan."

Damon raises his brows at her.

"Are you telling me this voice of yours isn't just your crazy coming out? It actually _is_ something."

Caroline wants to say that it's her, but looking into Damon's blue eyes, she is quite positive that would be a bad idea. In Damon's eyes, she is a tool to be used. And as soon as she is anything but useful, she is something to be discarded.

"It's something, all right. Luckily for you, it's something that's older than this Elijah. I'll be able to handle him."

Damon accepts the statement as true though his eyes are more thoughtful, as if he is reconsidering "letting" Caroline live, but Stefan looks far less sold on Caroline's confidence. He mouths _are you sure_ to her behind Damon's back, and Caroline nods. She isn't sure, of course. Oh, she knows she has the _capability_ to defeat Elijah. She's just not sure she has the control. Caroline can utilize the power, but once she gets into the action, it becomes a lot less easy to control all her violent urges. And running on pure instinct against a creature who is a thousand years old?

Caroline will have to pull off a miracle.

Still, she moves with the Salvatore brothers. She can hear Elijah speaking with a female. She must be the one who took Elena. Caroline also hears the moment when Elijah kills the woman's companion. She hears Elena's gasp and her heart rate speed up in fear. She hears the unknown woman's broken breaths as she bites back sobs. She can hear Elena try to negotiate with Elijah using the moonstone, but negotiations fail when he rips off her necklace and compels her. Caroline shoots a glare at Damon and Stefan when she hears that the moonstone is with Katherine. She's trapped in that tomb, and they may need that moonstone. Idiots.

Then she hears Elijah move with Elena towards the exit. She looks to the Salvatore brothers who nod. They will be distracting Elijah, to give Caroline the upper hand. Both brothers take off, using their speed to move and call tauntingly at Elijah.

When Damon lures Elijah upstairs, Stefan takes the chance to grab Elena and hide her. Caroline isn't so nice. She grabs the unknown woman, a brunette vampire, and snaps her neck, tossing her down behind the stairs.

Sadly, the snap must have been louder than she expected, because she finds herself airbourne as Elijah tosses her like a doll across the room. Caroline lands hard on her back, sliding back several feet. Before she has time to gather her wits, Elijah is on her.

"Who else is with you?" Elijah hisses. He grasps her around the throat. "I doubt they sent the sweet little cheerleader to take me on all alone."

Damon was right. Even Elijah at a thousand years looks at her and sees the pretty blonde and underestimates.

And Caroline is sick of it.

"There's nothing wrong"—she grabs his wrist and forces it back from her throat, and Elijah's eyes widen in shock—"with being a cheerleader." She brings up her other hand and shoves it against his chest, sending the original into his own flight. He lands on a table across the room, splintering it.

This time, it's Caroline who is on top. Her carefully styled hair has become mussed and Caroline shoves it angrily from her face, not caring whether or not her ears are revealed. Elijah's eyes widen when he sees them.

"Valkyre," he whispers, his voice awed.

_Close_, murmurs the voice. _So very close._

Caroline ignores the voice, reaching up and grabbing a piece of the splintered wood.

"No," she says, looking Elijah directly in the eye. "Cheerleader."

Then she shoves the makeshift stake into Elijah's undead heart.

_**AN: So, here it is. And a heads up? Elijah and Caroline's relationship is going to be quite different in the story compared to the show. As in they'll actually have one (not romantic, but they'll interact). Also, I'm now working on chapter 12 and if all goes as planned, we'll have a first meeting with Klaus (well, Klaus-in-Alaric). It should be fun. Please review!**_


	13. Current

_**AN: Well, here we are at chapter 10. In which Caroline finds out the guy she just killed isn't so dead. Don't you hate it when that happens? Caroline sure does.**_

**Ten. Current**

So, in hindsight Caroline realizes that killing Elijah might not have been her brightest idea. Oh, it saves Elena from whatever nasty, evil plot the original was brewing, but he was also the first person who seemed to have any clue about what Caroline might be.

She looks to where Stefan and Elena are hugging each other tightly, with Damon watching on. There is a pained look in the elder Salvatore's eyes, and despite her extreme dislike, Caroline almost feels sorry for him. She knows what it's like to always be the unwanted one. To love, but never _be_ loved. And she hates that she can feel that empathy for someone that screwed her over so badly, repeatedly. So, she ignores her less than hateful feelings for Damon and instead focuses on the Elena and the Salvatore she actually likes.

"Uh, guys," she says, interrupting Elena and Stefan's heartfelt reunion. "I hate to interrupt this sweet little lovefest… but I think he might have known what I am. And I just killed him."

"What?" Elena asks, breaking away from Stefan. "What do you mean, _he knows what you are_?"

"Right before I staked him, he called me _Valkyre_, whatever that is." Caroline bends down and yanks the shaft of wood out of Elijah's chest. "I don't suppose there's any way to bring the dead back… _temporarily_," she adds, when Damon glares at her.

"Valkyre…" Stefan muses. "You don't think. Could that mean _Valkyrie_?"

Damon snorts at that. Loudly. Caroline's feelings of empathy disappear, and she's left feeling rather insulted instead.

"What's so crazy about that?" Caroline asks.

_Is that it? _She adds to the voice. _Am I a Valkyrie._

The voice doesn't answer, but Caroline already knows what it would say. _Close, so very close_. Just as it had when Elijah had breathed the name in such awe. Caroline knows of Valkyrie. Of Freya and Brunnhilda, and other fierce female warriors who took the souls of fallen warriors to Valhalla to prepare them for Ragnarok.

The thing is… _Caroline_ never learned about those things. Norse legend was never high on the list of things Caroline was interested in, so she has no idea where these thoughts are coming from. It's not the voice offering her up information. It's…

These are Caroline's memories. She doesn't just know _of_ those Valkyries, she remembers their birth. She remembers the pride she felt in them when she watched them collect souls, as though a proud mother. These are not memories of Caroline's lifetime, but they are her memories all the same.

The voice has been quiet, too quiet. In fact, it's been too quiet since the day Caroline beat the crap out of Mason Lockwood. Since Caroline first started dreaming of things that she never did, yet could remember doing. It's as if… it's as if the voice and she are _merging_. There are still times when the voice thinks something that Caroline just can't compute as her own thought, but those occurrences are fewer and further apart.

Caroline looks at Elijah's body. When she snapped Damon's neck, she threw up afterwards. When she beat the crap out of Mason and used the deputies as shields, she felt horrified once it was done.

Looking at Elijah, all she feels is that it's a job well done. She _wants_ to feel sick, thinks she should feel sick. Vampire or not, Caroline just killed a man.

None of those feelings come.

Caroline swallows thickly.

"Care, what is it?" Elena asks, ever compassionate and aware of other's feelings.

"I… I just realized I killed him. It's hitting me hard, that's all."

Elena buys the excuse. After all, in Caroline's shoes, she would most likely be horrified to discover blood on her hands. Caroline lets Elena put her arms around Caroline and soothe her and walk her to the car. She lets Elena continue to live in a world where the good guys are always good and the bad guys are always bad and lines are never blurred.

All the while, Caroline feels the girl she used to be slipping out of her grasp.

"What do you mean Elijah is still alive?" Caroline hisses into the phone angrily the next day.

"Exactly what I said, Care," Elena replies. "According to Rose, the Originals can't be killed by regular wood. It has to be a specific type. And guess what? They destroyed it."

"What is she doing in Mystic Falls anyway? Did Damon forget that she _kidnapped_ you?"

"She knows more than any of us about Elijah. And this Klaus guy, too. We need her, Care," Elena responds and Caroline rolls her eyes.

"Of course. How could I forget that the vampire _bogeyman_ is coming after you. Elena, you really need to get a new life."

"You're telling me," Elena sighs in reply. She pauses then, and Caroline knows that Elena is about to ask her to do something she really won't want to. Caroline briefly considers hanging up and claiming a lost connection, but Elena starts to speak and she misses her chance. "The only other person who knows them as well is Katherine."

"Yeah. And the psycho bitch is locked up, so that's a no-go."

"Care… You can move the rock away from the entrance. You're strong enough. And Katherine still wouldn't be able to get through the barrier, so you'd be safe…"

"Oh God," Caroline groans. "Just tell me what you want. Bandaid; pull it off fast."

"I want you to move the rock so I can talk to Katherine, then distract Stefan because he'd never agree to this."

"I knew I'd hate what you have to say," Caroline responds, but she has to admit the idea is actually good. Who knows if Rose can be trusted, after all, and if any information of hers can be backed up by Katherine, then maybe they can consider it solid. "I can't believe I'm saying this with so little argument, but okay. I'll be the distraction. Just… be quick about it, okay?"

"You're awesome, Care," Elena replies.

And so, Caroline finds herself sitting across from Stefan exactly an hour later after removing the boulder from the tomb entrance. The pair are eating and having what Caroline declares is "bonding time."

"Food helps," she says to Stefan as she shoves French fries into her mouth. "You know, with all the kill, maim, die urges."

"You still get those?" Stefan asks, leaning forward.

"Stefan, a football player whistled at me this morning and I almost snapped his neck. At least with vampires you have the urges because you're hungry. I, apparently, just want to kill things." Caroline gives a mocking toast with her coke. "But if I'm eating, I'm not trying to kill. So food is good."

"You're good at it. The control thing," Stefan clarifies when Caroline looks at him in confusion. "I wouldn't have suspected you were still having problems if you hadn't told me."

"Yeah, well. I'm a neurotic control freak. Apparently even psychopathic urges can't beat that."

"So, any news on the Valkyrie front?" Stefan asks.

"They're female warriors who were granted immortality after begging the Gods for vengeance. They gather the souls of warriors to fight in the apocalypse. Besides that? Nothing solid," Caroline responds. She is lying to Stefan, but she's beginning to realize that the complete truth is perhaps something her friends can't handle.

Elena had handed her a stack of papers about possession when they had met. She said Alaric thought perhaps that was what was causing the voice and Caroline's erratic behaviour. She doesn't have the heart to tell Elena that this is no possession. There's still a part of Caroline herself that wishes it was.

"So… you don't have any news on the Valkyrie front. Your violent urges still exist but are under control. And Elena is conveniently absent when you decide you want to bond with me. What is she up to, Caroline?"

Caroline gapes at Stefan for a moment. She's a _good_ actress, damn it! She fooled Katherine, she's kept everyone in the dark in reference to exactly how far she's fallen. Hell, she can even be around Matt now without anyone asking her if she's okay! So, how exactly can Stefan catch onto her so quick?

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Caroline replies, but she has to mentally cringe at how obvious the lie is.

"Uh-huh? What is she up to? Is she with Damon?"

"Seriously? Do you think I would help Elena get private time with _Damon_? Why would she even want private time with Damon? He killed Jeremy, remember? You have trust issues."

"Where is she?"

"God, you have such a one track mind," Caroline snaps, rolling her eyes. Stefan just continues to look at her and Elena sighs. "Fine. She's at the tomb talking to Katherine."

Stefan shoots to his feet, his expression changing to his 'what the hell are you thinking?' look, which is similar to his 'it's Tuesday' look, but with a deeper furrow at his brows.

"Really, Caroline, did it the thought ever cross your mind that it was a bad idea?" Stefan asks, heading for the door.

"Really, Stefan, did the thought ever cross your mind that it was a _good_ idea?" Caroline drawls back, grabbing his arm and pulling him to a halt. "Honestly, stop and think about it. Katherine is on the run from these guys. Obviously they have history, and whatever that history is, is coming back to haunt _Elena_. Pause and think. We need to know what Katherine knows. Elena can get it out of her."

Stefan glares at Caroline, but she can see the moment when he admits that she's right. His shoulders slump and he sighs, but he nods.

"Fine. But I'm going there now. Katherine's had enough time to tell her story. I don't want Elena with her any more than necessary."

Stefan takes off once more and Caroline rolls her eyes at his protectiveness. Stefan would have to realize someday that while Elena might be human, she wasn't helpless. Caroline takes out her cell and punches out a text to Elena, giving her a heads up about Stefan's approach. She reaches into her purse and digs for her keys when someone flashes out and Caroline finds herself shoved up against the alley wall of the Grill by her throat. The owner of the hand holding her there is Elijah.

"I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I'm Elijah," he says, and his voice is cool and cultured. It fits this well groomed man well.

"Caroline," Caroline chokes out, reaching up to tear at his hand. "Want to let me go?"

"Hmmm… you managed to toss me aside so easily before, but not this time?" Elijah surveys her. "Your eyes. They were silver before. What are you, Caroline?"

"Good question," Caroline responds. She manages to get her fingers between Elijah's and wrenches them apart. He allows her to drop into a crouch, and Caroline gasps for air hungrily. "Why does everyone keep _doing_ that?"

"My people told stories of the warrior women, the Valkyries who were to lead the warriors in the final battle for earth. You look like what I would imagine them to look like, but you're a child. It really makes no sense."

Caroline growls at Elijah, and her eyes dart around. Elijah is between her and the alley exit, and there is nothing nearby she can use as a weapon. Her fingers twitch, and she wonders if she could get her phone out and a call through to Stefan.

"I wouldn't try, Caroline. You are powerful, but so am I, and you took me by surprise at our last meeting. I wish to speak to you about the Doppleganger."

"No. I don't care what it is you're about to say, the answer is no. I danced to Katherine's tune because I had to. I won't dance to yours."

Once again, Elijah pins Caroline against the wall, and Caroline feels her power filling her as she hisses at him angrily.

"There are those silver eyes. So angry," Elijah murmurs. "I am far older than Katerina, Caroline. If you danced for her, you will certainly dance for me."

There comes a point in everyone's life when they reach a breaking point. When everything becomes too much and they simply can't take any more.

This is Caroline's breaking point. She is sick of everyone trying to use her, trying to threaten her. Caroline is the most dangerous creature and why. Won't. They. Realize. That.

She gives a frustrated shriek and shoves Elijah away. The light in the alley begins to spark angrily, shattering, and Caroline could swear that Elijah jumps when lightning strikes across the sky.

The clear sky.

Caroline feels the air around her becoming heavy with power. She can feel the electric current around her making her hair raise. She bares her teeth in a dangerous grin at Elijah who is looking at her with something close to fear.

Then the lightning strikes.

But it doesn't hit Elijah. Instead it hits Caroline, and the current rushes through her veins and Caroline laughs with the joy of it. The lightning is her life blood, and Caroline has never felt so free. She holds up her hand, watching the lightning spark between her fingertips, and then she looks at Elijah.

"Run," is all she says.

And Elijah does.

Caroline returns home and finds that so fully embracing her power has wrought new changes to her body. Her fingers are each tipped by a delicate deadly claw. But unlike when her ears changed, this time Caroline does not freak out. This time she smiles. These claws are a weapon, and Caroline will use them.

She is no longer girly little Caroline. She is no longer the victim. Instead, she is the creature to whom all others will bow. She is the ultimate predator, and this is _her_ town. No one, not even the bogeyman of the vampire world, is going to mess with it. Caroline's course has never been so clear to her.

So, when Elijah appears on her front porch that night, Caroline joins him and motions for him to sit on one of the patio chairs.

"Let's make a deal."

_**AN: Now, for a recap of Caroline's powers: she has stronger senses, she's fast, she has a sonic scream, she can heal quickly, she can be energized by anger and violence, and now she can channel electricity. Of those, the one that I'd focus on most for figuring out what she is, is the being energized by anger and violence thing. **_

_**And she's making a deal with Elijah! This chapter represents a major turning point in Caroline's character. In the next couple of chapters, she'll be learning how to deal with those changes in a healthy, non-destructive way (not easy for the poor girl).**_

_**And good news! I've finished writing part one. It comes in at fourteen chapters and over 80 pages, but it means I get to start writing the good stuff. Like Klaroline, and exploring more of what Caroline is. There a couple more major clues in that area coming up in the next four chapters. By the end, I hope to have some people who have figured it out. **_

_**Just remember… Caroline thrives on anger and violence. And the number 4 will be important. There are your hints for this chapter.**_


	14. Switched Off

_**AN: And here is the next chapter, where Caroline and Elijah tell everyone how it's going to be. Oh, and she shows off her new claws, because claws are just fun.**_

**Eleven. Switched Off**

"This had better be good, Blondie. I don't like making deals with people who want to kill me," Damon snarks when Caroline appears on the Salvatore's doorstep with Elijah.

"Then there must be very few people you'll make deals with," Caroline replies, her voice cool. Damon Salvatore doesn't frighten her anymore, not when Caroline can feel the currents in the air just waiting for her to call them. It's weird, this new feeling, but at the same time it's familiar. Miss Mystic Falls Caroline does not recognize the feeling, but the new Caroline does. "Is everyone else here?"

"You two are the last to arrive," Damon replies, closing the door behind Elijah. Damon looks at Caroline. "You okay, Barbie? You seem… different."

"New nail job," Caroline replies absently, holding up her new claws for Damon to see, but her mind is already on other things. Mostly, how to deal with the incoming Klaus.

"Jesus, Caroline. You're really embracing your new femme… wait a minute, are these _real_?" Damon demands, grabbing her hand and hissing when he grazes against one of the claws and it cuts him.

"Yes, and very sharp," Caroline replies, pulling her hand away and leading the way into the den where Stefan, Elena, Jeremy, Bonnie, Rose and Alaric all wait.

"Caroline, did any of those books help?" Alaric asks when she enters. Caroline looks at everyone in the room and decides that if she's going to save her town, she had better start laying down the law now.

"No. I'm not possessed," she says, addressing the room. "I'm not entirely sure _what_ I am, but whatever it is, it's all me. Now, everyone say hello to Elijah. Elijah, this is everyone. Now that we're all friends, let's plan how we're going to save Elena without the rest of us dying."

"We start by doing this."

The voice belongs to John Gilbert who has directed a shot with a dagger at Elijah's back. Everyone stares though, because it's not Elijah's back that the dagger goes into, but rather Caroline's shoulder. She moved faster than the humans in the room could track. John stumbles back, releasing the dagger. Caroline looks down at it, watching the blood soak into the shirt around it with a sort of detached interest.

"That was my favorite shirt," she notes, almost idly. She reaches up and grasps the handle of the dagger, pulling it out of her shoulder and eyeing the bloody blade. "Ouch."

Then John is on the ground, Caroline's booted foot pressing against his throat, cutting off his air.

"Here's how things are going to go," Caroline says to the room in general. Alaric, Bonnie, Elena and Jeremy are all watching her with horror in their eyes. Damon is eyeing her like she's a rabid dog, while Stefan looks resigned, almost as if he's been expecting this. Elijah just looks mildly impressed. "Elijah and I are going to come up with a plan because, hello!, the ones you guys come up with suck. Then, you all are going to assist in pulling off the plan. Anyone deviates? Well, let's just say that I've reached the end of my patience, so you'll die."

"And what if we don't agree to that?" Bonnie asks.

"I'd call you a fool," Caroline replies. "It's to protect Elena who, let's face it, is the only friend you have left since you've written me off as a monster. But if you want to leave, fine. There's the door. Elijah has witches we can use… in fact, I think one of them is _your_ boyfriend. Luca, isn't it?" Caroline smirks when Bonnie gapes. "Guess what? Witches aren't so perfect after all."

"Care," Elena pleads softly. "This isn't you."

Caroline looks at Elena, and then she frowns.

She feels nothing when she looks at Elena. She looks around the room at everyone in it. People she cares about. People she wants to protect… and she feels _nothing_.

"You've turned it off, Care," Stefan says softly.

"Turned what off?" Caroline replies, lost.

"Your humanity," Elijah responds before Stefan can. "I really must admit, Ms. Forbes, you are one of the most curious creatures I've ever come across."

It doesn't change anything, Caroline decides. Whether her humanity switch is flipped or not, Mystic Falls is still her town. It will _always_ be her town, even once she leaves to find Him. That means everyone in the town belongs to her as well.

So Caroline decides it doesn't matter. Besides, it's so much _easier_ when she isn't being controlled by her emotions. For example, if John doesn't stop eyeing the dagger Caroline discarded on the table, she can easily kill him.

Or leave him to Elijah, who is also eyeing the dagger.

"Just take it," she tells the original at last, rolling her eyes. "The only one who could beat you for it is me, and I don't want it"—she looks at the hole in her shirt—"still kinda pissed about this."

"Blondie, just because you've decided to turn emotionless on us doesn't mean you can give the Original the only damn weapon that can _kill_ and original," Damon hisses.

"It won't kill him, it will just incapacitate him until someone pulls it out," Caroline replies. "Besides, we need Elijah alive to keep Elena alive. I'm serious, Damon. Mess with my plan, and I will kill you."

Damon looks into Caroline's eyes and is reminded of the day in the alley when she snapped his neck. But this time, she is not driven by anger. This time, her eyes are void of emotion, and Damon finds that even more frightening. The Caroline of the alley would have killed him out of emotion. This one would consider all scenarios and kill him because he served her no purpose.

This is not Caroline Forbes.

"What is your plan?" Jeremy asks.

"That's where we have some disagreement," Elijah replies. "I wish to kill Niklaus. Caroline says he needs to live."

"Why?" Elena asks staring at Caroline. "Why does he need to live."

"Because… because…" Caroline's brow furrows and she reaches out to pick up the dagger, playing with it between her fingers. She can feel both Elijah and John watching her like hawks, but ignores them. There is a reason Klaus has to live, and Caroline _should_ know it, but like most things involving the originals, or anything involving _what_ she is, that reason eludes her. She simply knows it exists. "We can't. It would be bad. That's all I know."

"So then, what's _your _plan?" Damon drawls out.

"Actually, Elijah and I agree on the plan, we simply disagree on what is to be done with Klaus. We let Klaus do his sacrifice. But we save Elena."

"And how do we do that if Klaus is supposed to succeed with his sacrifice?" Rose asks, speaking for the first time since seeing Elijah.

"I have a potion, Rose," Elijah replies. "It should bring Elena back after Niklaus has killed her. So please, try to avoid feeding Elena your blood and letting her commit suicide."

"And then what? We just let Klaus go?" Stefan asks. "And what if Elijah's potion doesn't work? This plan is horrible, Caroline."

"Fine, then," Caroline replies. "You can all fight Klaus and die, and he'll sacrifice Elena anyways, only she'll actually be dead. Because that plan is _so_ much better."

"I could maybe find a spell," Bonnie says. "One that could kill him."

"The only spells that can undo vampirism require human sacrifice," Caroline replies promptly. She shrugs when everyone, including Elijah, stares at her. "My memories are spotty."

"How is it that a seventeen year old cheerleader from Mystic Falls has memories of events that occurred over a thousand years ago?" Rose asks, and the look she shoots at Caroline says that Rose remembers who it was that snapped her neck.

"I don't know the details," Caroline replies. "Something about a witch's curse and being locked away. I would ask the voice in my head, but it hasn't been nearly as vocal since I realized it _was_ me. Now I mostly get memories that make no sense until I figure out their context."

She stares at the dagger and sees a small decal carved into its wooden handle. She holds it up closer and looks at the carving. It is done is meticulous detail and depicts a bridge over a rushing river, at the end of which there is some sort of bridge.

"What's this?" she asks Elijah, holding out the dagger so he can see the decal. Elijah picks it up.

"It's the bridge, Gjallarbru, which crosses the river Gjoll and leads to Hel where, presumably, my siblings and I would go should we ever die," Elijah replies. He flips the knife over and shows Caroline the other side, where there is a snake that looks to be biting its own tail. "This is Jormungandr, the world snake. If he ever ceases to bite his tail, it will signal the beginning of Ragnarok. The apocalypse."

"This history lesson is interesting, but not really pertinent to _our situation_," Damon points out.

"I suppose it's not," Caroline agrees, looking at the depiction of the river once more. She feels as if she is looking at puzzle that is missing a piece, and if she can find that piece everything will finally make sense. She manages to tear her eyes from the dagger to look at the group. "It's really your choice, Elena. Your life is the one we're gambling with."

"Who will be the vampire and werewolf?" Elena asks, hugging herself. "Mason is dead, and we can't let Klaus sacrifice Tyler."

"We'll find a werewolf, Elena," Elijah replies. "And as for the sacrifice… well, once again Caroline and I disagree there."

"I want to use Katherine," Caroline explains dryly. "Elijah wants to hunt down a different vampire that's on Klaus' shit list. I suppose we could always give him Rose."

Caroline looks at the woman in question, as if trying to determine her sacrificial value, and Rose hisses.

"If you think I'll allow myself to be offered to Klaus, think again. I've evaded him for five hundred years. I'll do it for five hundred more."

"Calm down, Rose," Elijah says. "You've been pardoned. Caroline is merely pouting because she isn't getting her way in the issue of Katerina. Niklaus wouldn't use Katerina as a sacrifice anyway, Caroline. He wishes for her to suffer."

Caroline huffs and sets down the dagger, though her eyes are still attracted to the depiction of the death road. She's not sure if it's the mythology behind it, so related to the mythology of the Valkyries that is clear in Caroline's mind, or if it's what that road represents.

Death. A final ending.

_Marik_.

And once again, it's the blonde man with the green eyes and wicked smile, but now Caroline has a name. He is Marik, and Caroline knows she should love him, just as she should love Elena.

But she doesn't.

_Turn it on_.

The voice is demanding, but Caroline doesn't want to listen. She is finally at peace with who she is. She is Chaos, and as long as she doesn't care, she can be what she is meant to be. It's so much easier to do what needs to be done when you don't care.

"Caroline!"

Stefan's voice breaks through the argument Caroline is having with herself and her head snaps up. Everyone is looking at her and she raises a brow.

"What?"

"We were just saying that a pack of wolves is in town. They're looking for Mason Lockwood, so I was thinking, you know, two birds, one stone," Damon explains.

"Fine. You can deal with that. You're the one who killed Mason, so you can be the one to deal with the problem of the wolf. Elijah, you know who Klaus hates. If you refuse to use Katherine, then find us a substitute," Caroline is still staring at that stupid dagger when Elijah picks it up and slides it inside his jacket.

"We will have to have a discussion someday, Miss Forbes, on who is in charge in this relationship. A hint, it's me," Elijah says, standing. "However, I will see if I can't find someone who will suit our purposes. What will the rest of you be doing while Damon and I are doing the work?"

"We'll be keeping Elena alive," Caroline responds. "It's known to be a full time job."

Caroline has been ignoring the group. She is always there, watching Elena and making sure that no one is planning to screw things up, but as soon as Elena or Stefan tries to bring up her new lack of humanity, Caroline blanks out. She does the same to the voice, though it is more difficult to ignore the howling creature in her own mind than it is the infants outside of it.

She is beginning to prefer Bonnie's company. Bonnie's glares say that Caroline has become exactly what Bonnie thought she would, but it's easy to ignore those glares. Bonnie sees the world in such a black and white view that Caroline finds it hilarious. To her, humans are good, and anything inhuman is bad. Bonnie doesn't understand that there is so much more to the world, and that for every _good_ thing, there must be something equally as bad to balance it. Caroline is a balance, and there is nothing more natural.

She spends most of her free time making final plans for the Decade Dance. Perhaps she has turned off her humanity, but Caroline is still determined to make this dance amazing. It's not that she's excited for the dance, but simply that she refuses to have her name attached to something that is less than extraordinary. So she ignores and she plans and her days fall into a repetitive cycle.

Luckily, the monotony of life as they prepare for Klaus' arrival is interrupted by Damon being taken captive by the wolves who are seeking out Mason Lockwood. They have discovered Mason is dead and who killed it. So now they want the Moon Stone as reparation.

And Tyler Lockwood is their loyal little lapdog.

"Dammit," Caroline mutters as Stefan hangs up his cell once the wolves are done making their demands. "I underestimated him. I should have dealt with Tyler before. Everything just got so crazy."

"Does he know what we are?" Stefan asks, and Caroline shakes her head.

"No. He knows I'm stronger than I should be, but that's it. I thought it was the end of it when I told him to back off and he seemed to. Dammit. I'll go take care of it."

"Care, he's our friend. Don't hurt him. Please," Elena begs. She had moved into the Salvatore house so the brothers could keep her safe, and they had signed the deed over to her. That made the Salvatore Boarding House plan central.

"I won't hurt him as long as he doesn't try to hurt me, Elena," Caroline responds. "Otherwise, all bets are off."

Caroline can tell Elena is about to begin one of her rants on Caroline's humanity, so she leaves before Elena can begin. Caroline is sick of hearing about her humanity. She doesn't miss it, why should anyone else?

When she arrives at the wolves hideout, it's to a massacre. Elijah stands in the middle of it all, blood covering his arms up to the elbow.

"Ripped out their hearts?" Caroline asks, picking her way across the carnage. She can feel the carefully reigned violence around Elijah, and she shivers as the power of it reaches her. She can almost feel her eyes changing, but she doesn't bother to stop it.

"Indeed," Elijah replies. He watches Caroline curiously. "You gain power from this. From the violence. When we first met, I would have sworn you were a Valkyrie. Now I'm as clueless as anyone."

"I don't think the what matters anymore," Caroline responds with a shrug. "Did you leave any of them alive?"

"A woman and a teenager got away," Elijah replies. "The what will matter to you someday, Caroline. When you realize that you can't _truly_ turn off your humanity? It will matter then."

"Humanity is overrated," Carline says, entering the cabin. Damon is tied to a chair. He is bleeding, covered in vervain wounds and Caroline can see at least two points where wooden bullets were shot into him. "Hell, Damon. I don't think you've even pissed _me_ off this much."

Caroline can sense Elijah enter the cabin behind her, but she ignores him to survey the straps holding Damon down. They are complicated but made of leather, so Caroline simply shreds them with her claws.

"Kept me weaker than a kitten with vervain," Damon explains as Caroline supports his weight and helps him leave the cabin. "I guess I owe Elijah here a thanks."

"We don't need distractions, otherwise I would have let them have you," Elijah responds, and Damon gives a hoarse chuckle.

"Their leader, Jules, she got away. Took Tyler with her," Damon says as Caroline puts him in her car. "It's a full moon tonight. We have to be careful."

"We'll hunt her down tomorrow so she can't hurt any of you precious vampires," Caroline responds.

"One of my witches are already on it," Elijah says. "We'll have them before they get twenty miles. I am also expecting a vampire within the next week. All of our pieces are in place."

"Great. Then all we need is the moon stone, and for you to tell Klaus to come and get 'em. You have the potion, right?"

"Indeed. Luca can handle the wolf on his own. We can deliver Damon to his brother, and then meet Jonas at the tomb to retrieve the moon stone from Katerina. I assume you wish to be there when we do so?"

"Of course. And _I'll_ be keeping that moon stone until Klaus arrives, Elijah. Just so you're not tempted to screw me over."

"So distrustful," Elijah mutters. "We'll discuss the details at the tomb."

Within an hour, Damon is given over to Stefan and Elena's healing arms while Rose makes herself scarce, as she often did when Elijah was anywhere near her. That left Caroline and the original to go to the tomb. They were just leaving the Salvatore boarding house when Elijah's cellphone rang.

"Jonas, we're on our way," he answers promptly. Caroline pauses in starting the car to listen to Jonas' reason for calling.

"The vampire is gone."

Caroline and Elijah look at each other alarmed.

"What do you mean, she's gone?" Elijah asks.

"I mean that I am at the tomb, and no one is there. The spell has been broken. Both the vampire and the moon stone are gone."

Caroline hits the steering wheel and curses angrily while Elijah tries to get more details out of Jonas. There are none. Katherine is simply gone. Elijah hangs up the phone and Caroline thinks he might actually throw it when it gives a beep. Elijah reads the text that has come through, then closes his eyes and curses.

"What's happened?" Caroline asks.

"Niklaus," Elijah replies. "He's in town. And he has Katerina and the moonstone."

_**AN: Aaand, she's turned off her humanity. Oh, and Klaus is in Mystic Falls. I wonder what sorts of shenanigans Caroline can get up to now. Especially now that they lost all the leverage they would have had in the moonstone.**_

_**I gave a pretty big hint about Caroline this chapter. It's when she's looking at the dagger, and she wonders whether she's attracted to it because of its Nordic roots, or because it represents death. I'll tell you right now, it's because it represents death. And death and some guy named Marik go hand-in-hand. And she loved Marik (but not romantically, so don't worry, those of you who are reading for Klaroline. Which will happen. Eventually). **_

_**So, things to consider…**_

_**When Caroline thinks of death, she thinks of someone she once loved (you know, back when she was still the voice). **_

_**Caroline can get strength from anger and other violent emotions (and electricity, but it's the anger and violence that helps).**_

_**She wants to kill stuff, basically all the time.**_

_**The voice is as old as humanity. And whatever the voice is, Caroline is as well, so…**_

_**Please review, and thanks to everyone who has stuck it out so far. Considering how part 1 ends, it will hopefully be worth the long wait to finally be introduced to Klaus.**_


	15. Decade Dance

**AN: And here we reach the decade dance. There's a lot of talking, and some fighting, and not a whole lot new on the "what is Caroline" front, but it is necessary to begin setting up the final two chapters in part one. So here we go:**

_**Twelve. Decade Dance**_

"Well, this sucks," Caroline says, following Elijah into the Salvatore boarding house. She sprawls in a chair and looks at Elijah who sits on the couch and stares contemplatively into the fire. A few seconds pass and the Salvatores join them.

"What sucks, Barbie?" Damon asks, pouring himself a bourbon. Caroline holds out her hand and stares at him, and Damon sighs, giving her the drink and pouring himself another. Caroline tosses back the alcohol in a gulp, hissing at the burn.

"Niklaus has taken Katerina and the moon stone," Elijah explains, sighing heavily. "That means we lost our main bargaining tool for keeping Elena alive."

"Well, we'll just have to make it clear," Caroline says. "Either Klaus does what we want, or his sacrifice doesn't happen."

She stands and grabs the bourbon, pouring more into the glass. This time she sips it as she surveys the three men in front of her. Of them, Elijah is really the only one who has enough power to barter with Klaus, but Caroline remembers that the two are brothers. And looking at the Salvatores, she is reminded that very little can truly kill the bonds of brotherhood.

The dagger that can incapacitate an Original weighs heavily in the pocket of Caroline's coat. She carries it with her everywhere, mostly because she still likes to take it out and stare at the carvings. But now she can see another reason for keeping the dagger close.

Caroline likes Elijah as much as she likes anyone these days, but she can't trust him. And she wonders at what point she'll put that dagger through his heart to keep him out of her way.

"You wanted to kill him," Caroline muses, scrutinizing Elijah. "Why?"

Elijah doesn't look surprised by the question. Caroline imagines he's been expecting it for a while.

"Niklaus has taken my whole family, killed all of our siblings. I want him to suffer as I have," Elijah explains. Caroline supposes that's as good a reason as any to want to kill your own brother, but she still can't quite buy it.

"You won't be able to do it. Even if I were to agree that killing him is a good idea, you would never go through with it," Caroline stares into her drink. "The ties of blood are too strong, and it takes a very special kind of person to break them."

Caroline feels as if she has firsthand knowledge of those ties, but she has spent all her eighteen years as an only child. That means the knowledge doesn't belong to Caroline Forbes, but to the Caroline who lived before. Caroline closes her eyes, searching for the face that goes with the knowledge, but nothing comes. Were Caroline still embracing her humanity, she is certain her stomach would be sinking with the dreadful suspicion that _she_ was one of those very special people who could kill their own blood. But Caroline doesn't embrace humanity anymore. She doesn't. Humanity means confusion and emotion, and Caroline needs neither of those right now. Being a monster is far easier.

The sinking feeling is just an echo from the humanity she's tossed aside, it's not actually there, like a stone in the bottom of her belly.

"Perhaps not. Perhaps your way _is_ better," Elijah acknowledges. "Tell me, Caroline, how is your new outlook on life serving you? No echoes of your old humanity?"

Caroline's eyes shoot up to Elijah, and they narrow in a glare. She hates that the Original can look at her and sees right through her. She hates that he looks at her with centuries of knowledge in his eyes and makes her doubt her own capabilities. She has millennia of knowledge in her mind to call upon, but her own experience is less than two decades. When Elijah looks at her, he looks with one thousand years of personal experience. They both know there is a difference.

"We need to find Klaus," she says, ignoring the smirk that Elijah throws her way. He knows nothing about her. "You're his brother. Where would he be?"

"I ceased pretending to know how Niklaus' mind worked centuries ago. He isn't the brother I once knew," Elijah replies with a shrug. "He is a monster. I don't pretend to know where monsters hide."

"Well, start thinking. I have to finish making last minute plans for the Decade Dance. It's tomorrow, and the gym still has to be decorated." Caroline finishes her bourbon and heads for the door. She feels Elijah at her back seconds before he reaches out to grasp her arm.

"Don't you think this is a tad more important than a dance? It means your friend's life or death," Elijah says, pulling her to a halt. Caroline sighs and turns to him, resting a hand on her hip.

"Look, Elijah, planning dances is my thing. I'm Miss Mystic Falls, which means I have a reputation to hold up. These days, I mostly just want to kill things or tear them apart. Planning this dance is one of the few things that have kept me from doing that. So, tomorrow you'll be left on your own to deal with finding Klaus. You'll be fine for twenty-four hours. Stefan, you're taking Elena. Damon, I signed you on as a chaperone. If history is anything to go by, something evil will show up to this dance. Let's try and make sure it doesn't _kill_ anyone. Now, I need to go home and put in an appearance before my mother freaks out or starts to realize that I'm not her girly little Caroline anymore."

Positive that none of the men were going to interfere with her leaving this time, Caroline pivots on her heel and exits the boarding house. She needs to get home and get some sleep. Tomorrow will be soon enough to think about Klaus and the missing Katherine.

Morning comes far too soon for Caroline. With it comes the news that Rose was attacked and bitten by Jules or Tyler during the full moon, but that Luca managed to stop Jules and she is now being held in Elijah's tender care. Elena's big brown eyes are full of tears as she tells Caroline about the vampire's plight. Caroline is unmoved. She didn't know Rose as anything other than the woman who kidnapped Elena. Perhaps there is a pang of regret at losing a source of information, but Elijah is working with them now. A brother has far more inside information than an underling, so if anyone had to die, Caroline figures Rose was the best one.

Apparently Elena does not share this logic.

"Is there a cure for a werewolf bite?" She asks Caroline, her eyes still full of tears. Caroline is trying to ignore them, but seeing her best friend cry is awakening those echoes of humanity once more. Caroline does not like it.

"No," she snaps irritably at Elena, at the same time the voice shouts _yes_ from the back of her mind.

Caroline pauses, and cocks her head, once again playing with the dagger, tossing it from hand to hand. This is interesting. There aren't many things the voice can add to conversation these days that Caroline doesn't already know. The two separate entities, Caroline and the voice, are almost completely combined now. Occasionally there is still a half-hearted attempt to make Caroline reclaim her humanity, but those attempts are few and easily ignored.

_Hybrid blood. Niklaus' blood._

Caroline's brows raise and she lets out a surprised snort. This is interesting. Elijah had never mentioned anything about Klaus being a hybrid.

A hybrid of what?

_Vampire and werewolf. He is the crowning achievement. A way of turning Victor's creations against him._

Much like with the blonde, Marik, an image comes to Caroline's mind. This time, the man is black haired and eyed, with unnaturally pale skin. He is Marik's opposite in almost every way, and the feelings he evokes are the opposite as well. Caroline feels anger and hatred for that man, and the emotions make Caroline's powers rush up in her. Outside, lightning cracks against the blue sky, and it calls for Caroline to channel it and turn it into something destructive. For a moment, Caroline feels the walls between her and her humanity begin to fracture, but then the lightning disappears and so does the hatred.

"Caroline, what's going on?" Elena asks nervously, her eyes glued to the lightning show going on in the clear sky outside the window.

"Nothing," Caroline replies idly, placing the dagger on her bedside table and moving towards dresser, next to which her 60s outfit is hanging. "Just thinking unpleasant thoughts. Apparently only Klaus' blood can cure a wolf bite. Sadly, I doubt we'll get him to donate any to our intrepid Rose. Damon will have to live without his latest bed buddy."

"That's not fair, Care," Elena replies. "Damon really cared for her."

"Damon doesn't care for anyone but Damon… and you, I suppose." Caroline leans back against her dresser and watches Elena. "Look, Elena, Klaus has the moonstone now. That means we lost a huge chunk of leverage. When Elijah and I negotiate, we're going in with just a werewolf and a vampire to hold over Klaus' head, and he didn't actually _need_ us to procure those for him. Asking him for the cure? That gives him the power. In a choice between you and Rose, I will choose you."

"What is wrong with you? This isn't the Care I know. The Care I know is compassionate, and she _cares_ about people. You don't care about people. I don't even think you care about me anymore. Why is it so important to you that I stay alive?"

"The Caroline you knew was _human_, Elena. She was held back by human shortfallings. I'm not human anymore. I'm better," Caroline holds her pink suit in front of herself and looks in the mirror. She'll look like the perfect 60s Stepford wife in this outfit, and the thought makes her smirk because it's so _not_ her. At least not anymore. "As for why your survival is so important. Mystic Falls is my home, Elena. No one, especially not some vampire, is allowed to come into my home and destroy it, or the people living in it." Caroline's eyes meet Elena's in the mirror. "You all belong to me. And I protect what's mine."

"We're not your toys, Caroline," Elena snaps, getting to her feet. She knocks the bedside table as she stands, and reaches out a hand to steady it before continuing. "We have feelings and we care, even Damon. If you're going to be this way, then we don't need your help. We'll stop Klaus ourselves."

Caroline rolls her eyes at Elena's dramatics and snorts at the brunette's declaration of independence. They need her, and they need Elijah.

"Tell Damon he still has to chaperone. He can mourn tomorrow. Today he has a role to play," Caroline calls after her retreating friend.

She turns back to the mirror, determined to put Elena's fit out of her mind. She is considering how to do her hair, when her bedside table catches her eye. There is a notebook and an alarm clock, but nothing else.

Caroline snarls out a curse and forgoes taking the steps downstairs in favor of simply leaping down from the second floor. She wrenches open her front door and steps onto the porch, but Elena is already gone.

And so is the dagger.

She got too cocky.

Caroline knows that now.

She was so superior in her power that she simply assumed everyone else would fall into line. She had expected Elijah perhaps chafing at Caroline's control, but she had assumed he would be the only problem she would face. Now Elijah is not answering his phone and Caroline can't find Elena, Bonnie or the Salvatores. Caroline hopes this is Elijah's way of showing that he is not going to answer to her, but deep in her gut Caroline knows that he is lying somewhere with that dagger in his heart.

Caroline fells almost… guilty.

_You suspected you would have to do it anyways,_ the voice points out, and Caroline wants to snarl at it.

This is too soon. Yes, she suspected Elijah might defect before this was done, but she wanted him with her to lay out the terms of their agreement with Klaus. Now she is without Elijah, without a dagger, and her only leverage is hiding from her.

The situation is a clusterfuck to say the least. Especially since Caroline has no idea where Elijah is keeping Jules and the mysterious vampire he had found for the sacrifice.

She was still cursing Elena and the whole situation when she charged into the gym later that day. She had spent the past several hours searching for her "friends" but all she had found was Rose's staked body and a spell blocking her way into the cellars of the Salvatore house. Caroline had made the assumption that was where they were keeping Elijah.

Once again, clusterfuck.

"You look angry, Caroline. Is something wrong?" Alaric asks. He is leaning against the wall, overseeing the first, early arrivals to the dance.

Caroline surveys Alaric and carefully stomps her anger into submission. Alaric Saltzman in the closest thing Damon has to a friend. He would be in on any plots that the elder Salvatore has concocted.

"Where is Damon, Ric?" Caroline asks, carefully enunciating her words. "He and I need to have a chat about sharing."

"I can't say I know, Caroline," Alaric replies. "I haven't seen Damon today. Have you asked Elena?"

And that is when Caroline's hackles raise and she looks at Alaric through the eyes of the suspicious and paranoid. He hasn't been around as much lately as usual. Caroline wrote it off as Alaric simply going off to romance Jenna, but after the day's events Caroline isn't up to trusting anyone, not even her history teacher.

"Elena's been MIA, too," Caroline responds slowly. "How is your research into our little problem going?"

"Well, you know how it is. Ancient vampires are alarmingly elusive when they want to be," Alaric replies airily, and Caroline gives him a tight smile.

She wasn't talking about Klaus. She was talking about the research on Caroline that she _knows_ Elena still has him doing. And Alaric should have known that.

"Tell me where Damon is," Caroline purrs, stalking towards the teacher who is now watching her somewhat warily. "Unless, of course, you _can't_. But I find that odd, considering the epic bromance the two of you have budding."

"Epic as it may be, I've found I prefer _romance_ in the past few days. I've been busy. With Jenna."

Caroline is considering ripping out the throat of Alaric, who she is now quite sure _isn't_ Alaric, when another group of students enters the gym and catches her eye.

It is Elena and co., and Caroline decides to leave Alaric-who-is-not-Alaric alone for the moment in favour of more important issues.

Such as explaining very, very carefully to friends exactly _who_ is the most powerful in their little group.

Elena sees Caroline coming and the brunette's back straightens and Caroline can see Elena take a deep, bracing breath for the confrontation that is coming.

"Well, the gang's all here," Caroline says jovially as she joins the pack. Damon looks ready to attack at any moment, while Stefan is wary but farm more relaxed. Bonnie's eyes are dark and Caroline can actually feel the air around the witch change as she gathers magic to herself. It distracts Caroline for a moment, forcing her to gather her own power to herself. Caroline can feel the static electricity gathering, and she spares a moment of worry for her perfectly coifed hair before levelling Bonnie with a dangerous look. "I wouldn't waste your powers on me. You'd only regret it."

"Look, Caroline, we did what had to be done. You're out of control," Elena hisses urgently.

"So you daggered Elijah?" Caroline responded dryly. "Yeah, that makes _total_ sense."

"It was Ric's idea actually," Damon replied. "He pointed out that we could handle one little cheerleader with supernatural powers. But a cheerleader _and_ an original? Not so much."

"Ric suggested it, did he?" Caroline responded softly, her eyes darting to the wall where she had left the history teacher. The now empty wall. "Interesting fact about Alaric, Damon? He's no longer home."

"What did you do to him?" Jeremy demands, shoving through the vampires and witch to get into Caroline's face. "If you hurt him…"

"You'll what, Jeremy? You're human. If Damon can't do anything to me, then what makes you think _you_ can? As for what I did to Alaric, absolutely nothing. Klaus on the other hand… well, I think _he_ might have done quite a lot. I don't suppose you brought all that material on possession with you?" Caroline asks Elena, raising a brow.

No one believes Caroline, of course. Damon growls at her, and tells her to come up with a more believable story. Elena just looks at her with a disappointment that makes Caroline roll her eyes, while Bonnie doesn't even deign to say anything, and just stalks away, Jeremy following. Stefan is the only one who looks uncertain, but in the end he sides with his brother and Elena.

"You're no longer in charge," Damon tells her, and his smirk tells her more than his words that he is enjoying this. "In fact, you're no longer involved. Without your humanity, you're more of a liability than a help."

"With your hard-on for revenge and Elena, you're more of an idiot than a general," Caroline responds. Damon's words would have hurt the insecure, human Caroline, but Caroline is not that girl anymore, and now she can see Damon for the pathetic creature he is. Elena makes an angry noise at Caroline's words, and Caroline turns her gaze to her friend. "When this all blows up in your face, you'll know where to find me. When you do, maybe I'll help you."

Damon glares and grasps Elena's arms, pulling her towards the mass of bodies that dancing to 60s music on the dance floor. Stefan hesitates for a moment, but Caroline motions for him to follow his brother and girlfriend like a good little puppy. Stefan sighs and follows the duo.

Caroline moves through the crowd and ensures that everything is going well, keeping an eye on Elena and friends from the corner of her eye. So she sees Elena's expression when a song request is dedicated to her from "Klaus." She watches as Elena drags Bonnie out of the gym, obviously angry about something.

Caroline doesn't see them for the rest of the night. Not until she arrives home to see Elena on her step, leaning against Stefan. Her eyes are swollen and red from tears, and Caroline knows something terrible has happened.

"It's Bonnie," Elena says in a voice that is void of emotion when Caroline stops in front of them. "She's dead. She used too much magic trying to stop Klaus."

Caroline stares at her friend and says nothing.

Above them, lightning splits the sky.

**AN: So, Bonnie is dead and we'll have to see how Caroline deals with that. Will she feel nothing? Or is it true that the switch is just an illusion? **

**But, we now have another name to add to Caroline's repertoire of memories. There is the blonde Marik, who is associated with death and who she loves. Then there is Victor who is physically Marik's opposite and Caroline (or at least the voice) hates him. You will be meeting these two, as well as another OC in future chapters. Those three are the only other beings out there similar to Caroline. **

**The guesses keep coming as to Caroline's identity. She is not a Fury Halfling, although that would be fun, and her identity does not come from Nordic myth. Anything Nordic that comes up in this story is more a nod to the Originals' Viking heritage than Caroline's existence. **

**Someone commented on how Caroline's Valkyrie qualities are similar to those in the book series "Immortals After Dark" by Kresley Cole (which are awesome, btw). For this story, I had inspiration from 3 books/series. The first is, obviously, IAD, the second was the "Fever" series by Karen Marie Moning (mostly just the creepy voice in Caroline's head), and the third, and probably biggest, inspiration was "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. If you enjoy reading, I suggest picking up any of those books. Especially "Good Omens," because Crowley and Azraphael are basically the best fictional characters ever created, and their drunken conversation about dolphins basically answers all life's questions.**


	16. Bargains

**AN: And here we are, at the second last chapter of part 1. To the person who correctly guessed what Caroline is (and you know who you are), I saw what you did with your penname. And it amuses me. Today, you get 2 updates: chapter 13, and a memory from the past that will answer the question of how does Caroline know so much about the Originals?**

**Here is chapter 13, and the first appearance of Klaus in Klaus' real body:**

_**Thirteen. Bargains**_

So, Bonnie's death was actually fake. It was all part of her plot with Damon to put Klaus off her scent so she could kill him without him expecting it.

Caroline is livid.

"Are you insane?" she demands of the pair, and Jeremy who knew the whole time.

"What? Angry because we're not willing to let you boss us around?" Bonnie replies bitterly. Caroline looks at Bonnie and shakes her head in frustration.

"No, I'm angry because you're so damn ready to sacrifice your life for Elena's. Do you really think that's what she wants, Bonnie? And this will kill you. Don't try to fool yourself into thinking anything else."

"You don't know anything about it," Bonnie responds angrily. "You're not a witch. You don't even really care. You've buried your humanity so deep that you're willing to just let Elena die! You used to love her!"

"I love you too!" Caroline shrieks back angrily, the sound high pitched enough that Bonnie and Jeremy both have to grasp their ears.

"Well, this is interesting. I was under the assumption that you had turned off your humanity. Has so much really changed in the twelve hours I was… out of commission?"

Caroline spins to the tomb entrance to see Elijah, flanked by Elena and Stefan, standing there.

"What the hell, Elena?" Damon demands. "We agreed that Elijah out of commission was better for all of us!"

"Actually, Klaus suggested it, which tells me that it's not better for us. And your plan involves Bonnie dying. That's not going to happen," Elena replies, moving around Elijah so she can stare Damon down. Her gaze transfers to Caroline. "I'm here asking for help."

Caroline remembers her words to Elena the previous day and nods.

"Back to the original plan, then," Caroline replies and she moves to speak to Elijah. "You still have the elixir?"

"Indeed I do," Elijah replies. "I do look forward to working with you when you actually care about something, Ms. Forbes."

"I don't," Caroline replies stonily. "You must have misheard."

"Of course I did. Shall we meet with Niklaus?"

"Set it up. I'll be there." Caroline looks over her shoulder at Damon. "If we do this right, Damon, no one has to die. Maybe that doesn't matter to you, but it matters to Elena. Don't try to screw it up again."

"I thought there was going to be no excuses for anyone," Damon sneers back. "Shouldn't I be dead now?"

Caroline feels so very tired all of the sudden. She is seventeen, still a child really. Yet her mind is full of thousands of years of regrets and snapshots of a life she didn't live, a life that makes her feel weary to the bones.

How do you do it? How do you keep going with all of this weighing you down.

At first Caroline thinks the voice isn't going to reply. Perhaps she has pushed it too deeply into her subconscious for it to speak. Perhaps all that is left is Caroline and regrets and feelings that shouldn't be hers to bear.

There were good memories too.

Caroline closes her eyes and once again sees Marik. Then she sees a pretty red headed girl she's never remembered before. Those memories come with pain, but there is happiness as well. Memories of the beginning, when the voice was still a child, and she caused chaos with glee, for no other reason than causing chaos. A time before darkness set in and hatred broke everyone apart. She sees Elena, Bonnie, and her mom. She sees a hundred happy memories, memories that belong to her and memories that don't.

You keep going for them. For those good memories, and for those people who bring them. And you keep going because I've never been a quitter, which means you aren't either.

Caroline opens her eyes and she walks out of the tomb, never responding to Damon's sneered words.

Elijah was right. There is no such thing as truly turning off your humanity. But it was a nice feeling to not care, while it lasted.

_**(CWM)**_

The meeting place is the Salvatore boarding house. Both brothers, Elena, Caroline, and Elijah are all present and waiting for Klaus to appear. The original hybrid had sent the terms for the meeting through Alaric, who had appeared on the Salvatore's front step tired, mussed, and confused, but otherwise unhurt. They had sent him home to recover, and Jeremy had gone with. Bonnie remained in the tomb, keeping her continued survival a secret in case they needed a Plan B.

"I suggest letting me do the talking," Elijah tells them. "He is my brother. I know him best."

"I thought you didn't pretend to know how the minds of monsters work," Caroline responds. She is sitting next to Elena on the couch, and Elena is tightly grasping Caroline's hand, the only outward sign that the doppleganger is terrified.

"He is my brother," Elijah replies, as if that should explain everything. It doesn't, not to Caroline, but it seems to be enough for Elena, Stefan, and Damon, who all have siblings of their own. So perhaps it is an answer, and Caroline simply doesn't understand it because she's never felt that bond.

A sibling always knows a sibling. It's in their blood and bone. No matter what else changes, that will not.

The voice understands it too, showing that while they may be the same, they are different as well. Caroline wonders if it will always be this way. If there will always be those one or two little things that will forever separate the voice and the Caroline who is now, and if they will always keep her torn in two.

Caroline's thoughts on siblings are interrupted by the door banging open. Apparently Klaus doesn't believe in knocking. He comes sweeping in, a lithe man with dirty blonde hair, dimples, and a wicked smirk, flanked by two humans who must be witches, and Caroline is swept back in memories.

She remembers coming to the new world. She remembers seeing the Originals and being jealous of the bond the siblings have. She remembers Henrik dying. And she remembers Marik manipulating events to create the race that would become known as vampires.

The whole thing comes back to her in a matter of seconds, and Caroline's hand jerks violently in Elena's. Elena looks at her in alarm, but it is Klaus' reaction that has Caroline's hackles rising.

"Do you find me that scary, love? That's a good thing. I should be feared. What is it you wish to discuss with me, Elijah? Perhaps you wish to hand me the doppleganger in return for my leniency over your past betrayals?"

"I wish to make a deal, brother," Elijah responds, moving so he stands between Caroline and Elena and Klaus. The quick glance she shoots back at Caroline holds something akin to concern, but Caroline waves him off. "The doppleganger is willing to allow you your sacrifice. If you allow her to live. I still have the elixir that was made for Katerina."

"Ah, yes, Katerina. The fun we've been having together these past days. No deal, Elijah. The doppleganger dies. The only question is how many of her loved ones die with her."

Caroline has regained her composure, and she pats Elena on the hand before flashing up to Elijah's side. Klaus looks almost startled for a moment. He had obviously written her off as simply a human friend of Elena's, and now he must re-evaluate the role she plays in the proceedings.

"This is Caroline, Niklaus," Elijah says. "She is Ms. Gilbert's friend and a young lady of… unusual talents."

"What sorts of unusual talents?" Klaus asks, genuinely curious and he watches Caroline through enigmatic eyes. It is obvious that he doesn't like complications, and that he is viewing Caroline as a very large one.

"I've been known to channel electricity and make Originals run away with their tails between their legs," Caroline replies coolly. Elijah glares at her, vague insult in his eyes, and Caroline shrugs at him. "Well, you did."

"It was a little surprising," Elijah says, turning to look at his brother. "But, Caroline doesn't like the idea of Elena staying dead, so…"

"Is that supposed to frighten me, brother?" Klaus asks, and in the next moment he has thrown Caroline to the floor and is holding her there by the throat. Both Salvatores and Elijah have moved closer while Elena gives a yelp, but Klaus just looks up at them all through veined eyes. "Any closer, and I'll rip her head off. Your secret weapon obviously isn't as effective as you thought, Elijah."

Elijah is watching Caroline, his eyes telling her that she has to do something or Klaus really will kill her. Caroline growls, angry that someone is, once again, using her throat to pin her down. She is seriously going to get a complex if this doesn't stop.

Caroline grasps the wrist of the hand at her throat, and digs her claws in deep enough to hit bone. Klaus gives a pained shout, rearing back from her and releasing his grip. Caroline sweeps her foot at his feet and sends him sprawling back. She scrambles to his feet and Klaus leaps to his own. He growling, she is gasping for breath and glaring.

"Dirty little trick there, sweetheart," Klaus sneers, looking down at his wrist that has already healed.

"You were trying to strangle me," Caroline snaps in reply. "Do you realize how sick I am of people trying to strangle me?"

Her temper is up, and the air around her is thrumming with current. Caroline reaches out with her powers and grasps that current. She can feel her hair begin to float in the air as Elijah takes a step back from her and Klaus cocks his head, watching her curiously. The electricity begins to spark between her fingers, and Caroline takes a slow step towards Klaus, who takes a slow step back. As if realizing what he's done, Klaus scowls and straightens, his eyes dart across the room to where he had left his witches.

Suddenly, Caroline falls to a knee, pain exploding inside her cranium. It radiates from behind her eye lids and into the back of her head. Caroline grabs at her hair, and she feels Stefan come to her side.

"Get. Elena. Out. Of. Here," she hisses angrily at the younger Salvatore. "Now."

Stefan looks as if he's about to argue, but Caroline glares through her pain, so he flashes to Elena and both are gone in a seconds. Sure that her friend was safe and away from her, Caroline once again calls on the currents in the air, but this time instead of letting it travel across her skin and to her fingertips, she lets it fill her as she once did when confronted with Katherine. She pulls in her anger, and the anger she can feel coming from the others in the room. Everything around her that can give her power, Caroline pulls on until she is so full she feels as if she will burst.

Then, she tips back her head and screams.

**(CWM)**

When Caroline comes to again, she can hear Klaus and Elijah arguing.

"She killed my witches. Don't stand in my way, Elijah."

"You set the witches on her. I told you she was powerful. Perhaps you should have listened."

"I will kill you brother, just as I did the rest of our family."

"I won't allow you to kill Caroline Forbes!"

Caroline tries to mutter a curse, but all that comes out is a hoarse croak. She opens her eyes and sits up, looking around. Elijah is still standing between her and Klaus, though both originals look a little off. Damon is groaning and just sitting up a few feet away. A few feet beyond him, Klaus' two witches lie completely immobile. Caroline's senses tell her they are dead, and if there was any doubt, the flash of guilt she feels tells Caroline that her humanity is definitely back.

But there is no regret, which tells her that her moral compass is permanently skewed.

"Anyone get the license on that truck?" Damon asks, sitting up. He sees Caroline and gives another groan. "Never mind, it was just blondie."

Caroline hisses at him, then snaps to her feet and flashes to the mirror against the wall. She begins to frantically check her appearance, searching for any sign that her use of immense power has once again changed her. There is nothing. She is still pointy eared and clawed, and her reflection is pale, but she hasn't changed any further.

"So, Sleeping Beauty awakes," Klaus says. "Now I get to kill you."

Caroline spins around into a crouch, but Elijah is once again in front of his brother.

"You don't kill her," Elijah says.

"Then I'll just kill the doppleganger. And perhaps her lovely aunt." Klaus looks at Caroline over Elijah's shoulder. "I was simply going to keep her as leverage to make sure the doppleganger behaved… but now I think I'll change that. Just as I've changed dear Jenna. And I'll be sure Elena knows exactly who is responsible for her brother being orphaned. Again. And dear Tyler Lockwood. I thought about using him to trade for the wolf I know Elijah has hidden away… but one werewolf is as good as another. Why not use him?"

Klaus smirks and Caroline feels her heart sink to her feet. He turns to walk out, and Caroline tries frantically to come up with something. Something, anything, that will stop what is happening. Klaus will have a vampire in Jenna and a werewolf in Tyler, and he already has the moonstone. That means all they have is…

"Stop!" she croaks as Klaus reaches the door. He ignores her, so she tries again. "We still have Elena!"

That makes Klaus stop and turn around.

"You can have all the vampires and werewolves and moonstones you want, but it's all worthless without Elena. You deal with us, Klaus, or I make sure Stefan takes Elena somewhere you'll never find her. Hell, maybe he'll turn her and eliminate the possibility altogether. Elena is it. The last of her line. There are no more dopplegangers, ever, if she dies before she has a kid." Caroline pulls out her cell phone and finds Stefan, holding her finger above the call button. "What will it be."

"I don't think it's a very fair deal, love," Klaus replies slowly, moving towards her. Elijah hovers nearby, but the look he gives her tells Caroline that he is letting her take the lead and make this deal. "You get everything you want, and I get what exactly?"

"Your curse broken," Caroline replies. "Isn't that what you want? You use the vampire Elijah has and Jules. Let Elena take the elixir, and we let you perform the sacrifice. Everyone wins."

"I have no witches to perform the spell," Klaus points out, motioning at the dead bodies.

"Am I to believe those are the only witches you have?" Caroline replies. "Cause I don't."

"I'll admit, you're clever… Caroline, right? Yes, I have other witches, but these two were my best. I want reparations for their lives."

"What do you want?" Caroline asks, her voice cool.

"Your powers are impressive. Even Elijah and I took a moment to recover from that… show. I imagine they'll only get stronger. You get everything you ask for, Caroline, and in return you will accompany me once we're done here," Klaus says.

"Why would you want that?" Caroline demands. "After all, what's to say I wouldn't turn on you as soon as I get the chance."

Blood oath, the voice murmurs.

At the same time, Klaus replies, "Nothing. That is why I would demand your blood oath. It isn't a forced guarantee, of course… but whatever is in you is old. You'd feel obligated to uphold it."

Forced to, the voice replies. We have to uphold the blood oath. Think long and hard.

The thought of being forced to remain loyal to an oath made to Klaus makes Caroline feel vaguely ill, but at the same time it means they get everything. Elena, Jenna, and Tyler all get to live. Klaus leaves their lives. And all it takes is Caroline going on a road trip.

"Why?" she asks again.

Klaus rolls his eyes.

"You certainly are stubborn, love. Once I leave here a hybrid, I will be searching out wolf packs to turn as well. I planned on taking my witches to assist in subduing any who… argue. But you would do even better."

Caroline taps her fingers against the wall and considers everything. She had planned to finish high school before taking off into the big old world, but maybe she could make this work for her. After all, the world was a big place and now that she had her emotions back, Caroline was again curious about the what when it came to her abilities. Perhaps Klaus could help with that.

"If I do this," she said to Klaus, "then I want your help to. I'm powerful, but no one has a clue as to what I am. Elijah is the only one who's been able to even make a guess, and it turns out that, while Valkyrie is close to the answer, it's not the whole story. I'll swear my oath. I'll help you make hybrids. You help me find out what I am."

This time, it was Klaus' turn to become thoughtful.

"If I'm going to help you, then this becomes more permanent. You don't just help me with my Hybrids, Caroline, you swear to guard me until you are ended or I release you from your oath."

"Blondie," began Damon, who had been watching the proceedings until now with serious silence. "Don't do this. It's not what Elena would want. You nixed my plan? Well I'm nixing this one."

"Elena lives, Damon," Caroline says. "Everyone I care about survives. And all I have to do is be his bodyguard until he gets sick of me?" Caroline threw a smirk in Damon's direction. "I'm crazy and neurotic, and since I came into these powers, I'm also kind of blood thirsty. I give him a month before I'm released."

"Caroline-" Damon tries again, but Caroline cuts him off.

"Deal. But I have to approve the wording of this oath."

Klaus smirks, and grasps Caroline's hand in his own, pulling it to his mouth and kissing it, rather than shaking it as she expected.

Elijah and Damon exchange glances behind Caroline's back, both thinking the same thing.

The look on Klaus's face did not belong to a man who would easily release his new toy.


	17. Memory I: The Mikaelson Family

_**Memory I: The Mikaelson Family**_

She had come to this new world with Marik to see what all the fuss was about. They had been spreading their brand of havoc across the old world, and now felt it was time to explore what the new had to offer. Victor and Alice had already left for the foreign shores in years past, and Marik decided they had had the new land to themselves for long enough. It was time to remind the pair of who the top dogs were.

They remained outside the sphere of human notice, as they always did when they approached a new home. The only ones who knew they were there were Victor and Alice, who had already integrated themselves into the village. Those two watched Marik and Caroline warily, but they felt protected and secure behind the protective wall of Victor's creations.

Caroline had to admit the werewolves were fearsome creatures. They had volcanic tempers, fast to rise, slow to simmer, and had Caroline been anyone else, she might have feared them. But she wasn't anyone else, she was Caroline, and the wolves had nothing on her Shield Maidens, the cool-headed women of war who gathered souls for the apocalypse.

But Marik was jealous of the wolves. He wanted apostles of his own. A species that would spread wider and be more powerful than Victor's ever could. He scoffed at the creatures whose power was tied to the moon, and he determined that he would create something better.

That's when Caroline found the Mikaelsons.

A family of such strong bonds and loyalty that Caroline couldn't help but be drawn to them. She had never understood those who could put their siblings above all. After all, Caroline and her own sister had stood on separate sides of a war of wills for millennia. But these six… these six had something Caroline and Alice always lacked, and that drew Caroline to them.

Then the youngest died, and Marik decided to make his plans come to fruition.

Marik wanted a species made in his image, so he created monsters. He wanted a species that would follow only him, so he destroyed the loyalty that had once held them together so tightly.

In the end, the Mikaelsons were gone, and in their place remained the Originals.

**AN: So, now you know how Caroline knew the Originals. Their creation is thanks to Marik. And you've also been sort of introduced to the third and final important OC to this story, Alice, the voice's (and by default Caroline's) sister. **

**So, next chapter will be the end of Part I: The Descent. I want your opinion on whether I should continue to post Part II: The Odyssey under this story, or if I should separate the three parts into three stories of their own.**

**As always, thanks for reviewing! (Or reading if you don't review)**


	18. End of Days

**AN: Well, all you lovely readers have been so great that I decided to give you this last chapter to Part One this week. As you can see, it's the longest chapter so far. Please enjoy:**

_**Fourteen. End of Days**_

No one agrees with Caroline's bargain. Everyone wants to go back to Damon's plan of using Bonnie to kill Klaus, but Caroline won't let them.

In her memories of the Original's creation, Marik was the one who created the spell. It was a spell that made his creations nearly indestructible, but Marik had left a failsafe should his creations not live up to his expectations.

Should one Original die, their whole line dies with them.

At first, the group doesn't care. They say that Caroline is too important, and screw all the vampires that have to die to keep her safe. Even Damon, who Caroline is still surprised is showing actual worry for her, says screw them.

Until, of course, Elijah tells him that Katherine belonged to Klaus' line, which means Damon and Stefan do as well.

That's when Elena tries to become a martyr. Caroline quickly puts the kibosh on that, Damon fully supporting her.

Caroline's mind is made up. She'll go with Klaus, Elena will live and have a family and be happy, and someday Caroline will be free and happy herself. Probably sooner rather than later, because Caroline knows herself. She is bitchy and neurotic, and Klaus will either release her or kill her eventually.

The only worry remaining is the matter of the elixir.

Elijah is sure it will work. Elena believes him. Caroline wonders if potions have an expiry date.

Damon's insurance is shoving his blood down Elena's throat the day of the sacrifice. If she dies, he says, at least he won't stay that way.

No one is talking to him except Caroline, and she wonders what is happening to her that Damon's plans actually make more sense to her than Elena and Stefan's. But Damon is right. She'd be a vampire, but at least she'd get the choice of whether to transition or not. If Elijah's elixir doesn't work, she'd just be dead.

It is John Gilbert, who has been kept outside of the loop since Caroline took the dagger from him and he was deemed to have no purpose by Damon, who approaches Caroline with Bonnie and another plan.

This one, Bonnie guarantees her, _will_ work.

Caroline wants to argue, but she figures she's the last one with the right. After all, if she's willing to sacrifice her freedom for her best friend, then surely John has the right to sacrifice his life so his daughter can continue to live.

The only thing Caroline asks is that they not tell Elena about it beforehand. Both Bonnie and John look at her as if she is crazy for thinking they'd tell Elena anything, and John hands Caroline a letter to give to Elena should it be his plan that ends up saving her life. Caroline takes it, but slips it to Damon when no one is looking. When Damon hears what she has to say, he just nods and promises to make sure Elena gets the letter.

They both know that, if everything goes to plan, Caroline won't be seeing any of them again for a long time.

**(CWM)**

Caroline stands at the sight of the sacrifice, Elijah at her side. They watch as Klaus' new witch prepares everything.

"You never told me what it is you get out of this," Caroline says to Elijah. "You wanted to kill him before. But now that he'll live… why haven't you left?"

"I don't trust Niklaus not to kill you, Ms. Forbes," Elijah replies. "And I feel that your death this soon would be a great loss. You're meant for great things."

"Thanks for that. But I don't believe you for a second," Caroline replies.

Elijah is silent for a long moment as he watches the witch drag an unconscious Jules out of a van and onto the ground. The nameless vampire that will serve as the other sacrifice is pulled out next.

"I was going to leave," he says at last. "The night you made the deal with Niklaus. Actually, I was going to leave and take you with me. Sadly, I am more selfish than I ever knew. Niklaus came and told me that my family was not dead. He knows me too well, and so he made another deal with me. I don't interfere, and I make sure that you don't double cross him prior to the creation of the blood oath, and he will give me my family back. I… I am sorry, Caroline."

"You're still living a thousand years in the past, Elijah," Caroline says to him, looking up at him with a small smile, really just a quirk of the lips. "I never expected you to save me. I'll enter this blood oath with my eyes wide open." She pulls a paper out of her pocket and holds it out to Elijah. "This is it. I'll make it before the sacrifice, once Elena is here and he's given us Jenna and Tyler. Look it over for me? I tried to make sure there was no way for him to make me kill someone I love, but you never know."

Elijah looks at the paper, with the words written out carefully in Caroline's neat cursive.

"You're swearing your protection, nothing else," the original says after a moment, handing the paper back. "You've worded it well. It's not too late, you know."

"Yes, it is," Caroline replies.

Elijah knows it's true, so the two lapse into a silence as the witch continues to set up the sacrifice, and sun continues to set in the sky.

It is twilight when Klaus makes his appearance in another black van. He murmurs in low tones to the witch, but Caroline can hear every word. He is making sure that everything is ready. A few moments later, Elena and the Salvatore brothers enter the clearing. Caroline knows that Stefan and Elena were spending one last day together, and she figures that Damon must have joined them when they made their way to the site.

"It looks like everyone's here. Excellent choice on the sacrifice, Elijah. I've been wanting to kill that bastard for a while," Klaus says gaily, clapping his hands together. "Ms. Forbes, if you will?"

"Tyler and Jenna first," Caroline says, leaving Elijah's side to walk towards Klaus. "I'm not risking giving you my oath only to find out you're bullcrapping me."

"So distrustful," Klaus replies, but he motions his witch to the van he came in. The witch opens the back and Caroline sees Jenna Tyler sitting there, tied up and mussed and looking a little disoriented, but very much alive. "As you can see, they are perfectly healthy."

Caroline takes a deep breath and moves towards the hybrid, but Elena catches her hand before she can get too far.

"You don't have to do this, Care," she says, looking at Klaus nervously as she speaks. "I can't ask you to do this."

"You didn't ask me to do anything, Elena," Caroline replies. "Klaus made the offer and I accepted it. But I'm going to ask you to do something for _me_. Be happy. Grow old and have a dozen little Elenas, and tell them about their Aunt Care who was way too awesome for words. And tell Bonnie that I love her, and I'm sorry that we haven't spoken much since… since everything. Please?"

"I… Care… please…"

"As touching as this is, we're on a schedule my lovelies. Give the girl your word, Elena, and let us get this done with," Klaus drawls, growing impatient with Elena's speechlessness.

"I promise," Elena replies, glaring at Klaus for his interruption. "Be safe, Care. And try to stay in touch."

Caroline smiles and squeezes Elena's hand, but she doesn't make any promises. After this, her time will be Klaus' until he chooses to release her. And once that happens? Caroline still needs to find Marik.

Caroline has a horrible feeling that if she eve returns to Mystic Falls, it won't be until Elena is dead and gone.

Turning her back on her friend, Caroline walks towards Klaus who stands in the middle of interlocking stone circles. He reaches out her hand and Caroline takes it, allowing him to help her over the stones.

"Well, love, shall we do this?" he asks, producing a small knife and holding it out.

"Yes. What do I do?" Caroline accepts the knife and stares at it blankly.

"Cut your palm, then I'll cut mine, then we'll exchange blood through the cuts as you make your oath. It's rather simple. Shall I do the cutting?"

"No," Caroline replies irritably. Taking one last deep breath, Caroline slices deeply into her hand with the knife. She winces at the pain while Klaus grabs the knife back and slices into his own palm and pressing the wounds together.

"Oath. Now," he orders.

"I, Caroline Forbes, swear to protect you, Niklaus, with my life until I die or you release me. As long as Elena Gilbert comes to no harm by your hand beyond this sacrifice," Caroline responds, her voice a dead monotone. The oath is simple, but it's the simplicity that makes it perfect. She is not making grand statements that Klaus could later twist to his own needs. She is making a simple promise of protection.

"I, Niklaus, accept," Klaus replies.

And a wave of power crashes through Caroline, sending her to her knees. She can feel it now, a tether of power binding her to Klaus as surely as a pair of handcuffs. She wonders what happens if she breaks the oath. Will that tether strangle her until there's nothing left?

_Better we don't find out_.

Klaus is looking down at the top of her head with a curious expression, and he rubs his palm, then stares down at it, his expression never changing. Caroline looks at her palm as well, expecting the cut to be healed.

It is, but it has left a scar. Looking at Klaus, she knows there must be a scar on his palm as well. A permanent reminder of the oath that now binds them.

"How curious," he murmurs, staring at the scar. "I had thought that your mission was a waste of my time, but perhaps it is not. I do wonder what you are, Ms. Forbes."

Elijah is at her side, holding her palm and staring at the scar.

"Did you know this would happen?" he asks Caroline, and she shrugs.

"I didn't know I'd be permanently scarring myself, or I might have made the cut a bit smaller," she replies, pulling her hand from Elijah's gentle grasp. "But I did know the bond would be created, yes." She meets Klaus' gaze over Elijah's head. "A blood oath for whatever I am is binding and permanent."

That odd, curious look is still on Klaus' face, a mixture of surprise and curiosity and something that Caroline just can't place, and isn't sure she wants to.

"Curious," he murmurs again, before turning his gaze to Elena. "Your turn, Ms. Gilbert. Step right in here and your boyfriends can retrieve your aunt and Mr. Lockwood."

Elena is looking at Caroline, her expression resigned. Caroline gives her a small smile and the brunette sighs, and turns to Stefan, giving him a kiss good-bye. Elena then rests her hand briefly on Damon's arm, and then walks towards Klaus. It is not a permanent good-bye, but it is a good-bye none-the-less, and the next time they see Elena she will have died and come back.

Once Elena steps into the circle, Damon moves to Klaus' van. The brothers have reached some unspoken agreement that Damon will accompany Jenna and Tyler home, while Stefan will stay here for Elena. Caroline falls back away from the stones to stand beside Stefan, and Elijah moves with her.

"You didn't tell us," Stefan says, and his jaw is clenching. "That the oath would actually bind you. That you literally wouldn't be able to break it."

"Even if I could, I wouldn't," Caroline replies. Stefan's jaw clenches tighter and Caroline's eyes light with understanding. "But you weren't going to give me a choice. You were going to make me break it."

"It doesn't matter now," Stefan replies stonily. "Because we don't know what will happen if you do. Unless, of course, you _do_ know what will happen and wish to share?"

"I'm better off not finding out," Caroline replies, echoing the voice's words. "I made my choice, Stefan. I'm going to ask the same thing of you as I did Elena. Be happy."

"It's not that easy," Stefan replied. "Not when I know that at least part of the reason Katherine brought the originals here is because of Damon and I."

"Blame Katerina," Elijah says. "Or blame me, if you must. But this is not your fault, Mr. Salvatore. If it helps, I swear to do all in my power to keep Caroline safe."

Stefan gives a curt nod.

"Oddly enough, it kinda does."

Caroline rolls her eyes at the male posturing.

"News flash, I can kick Stefan's ass and I _have_ kicked yours. I think if anyone is going to keep me safe, it'll be me," she points out, dryly, her eyes firmly focused on the sacrifice in front of them.

"You are powerful, Caroline. No one will deny that. But you are still young. You have much to learn of survival in this supernatural world. This is only the tip of the iceberg," Elijah says.

Caroline thinks of Marik, who managed to manipulate events to create the vampires. She thinks of Victor, who somehow created the werewolves. She thinks of herself, or the voice, anyways, who brought the Valkyries to life. Neither men flanking her know of the memories she has been receiving. Neither of them know that she knows the secrets of their creation.

Caroline considers telling them. Then she looks at Klaus. He has already killed Jules and the vampire, and now he is draining Elena. Caroline feels sick, knowing that she willingly put her friend into that position. She almost feels as if she took the easy way out. Klaus drops Elena's still body and meets Caroline's eye, and grins a bloody grin. Elena's blood.

This is the man she is sworn to.

She could tell Stefan and Elijah what she knows, but Elijah is right. She knows so little of this world, knows so little of herself. The only thing she does know, is that knowledge is power.

The knowledge she has is her power, and she can't share that. Not even with the two men who stand next to her, two men she is fairly certain she could trust.

Instead, she merely replies to Elijah's statement.

"I know."

Then she runs after Klaus, who has shifted into a wolf and is forest bound. Elijah follows her.

And Stefan is left to pick up the empty shell of the woman he loves.

**(CWM)**

"Well, one of our plans worked," Caroline tells Elijah the morning after the sacrifice as they track after Klaus and his killing spree. "And it wasn't your elixir."

"Oh," Elijah replies and his voice is almost cold. "I wasn't aware there was a second plan."

Caroline pauses and cocks her head.

"Really? I could have sworn you were one of the people we told…" she trails off thoughtfully. "But anyways, John Gilbert is dead."

"What?" this time, it is surprise in Elijah's voice.

"Yeah," Caroline shrugged. "That was Plan B. Bonnie did a spell that, if Elena died, would bring her back to life in return for John's life. What was I supposed to say to the man? _Hey, I'm allowed to become a psycho's indentured servant, but you can't die to save your daughter's life_. They would have done the spell anyway. Elena is heartbroken, though. I think she blames herself."

"Ms. Gilbert is too quick to blame herself for others choices," Elijah says after a long moment.

"Yeah. That's Elena." Caroline sighs when they come across yet another one of Klaus' victims. "Does he have to kill _every_ person he comes across? Hasn't he ever learned that less is more?"

"My brother has never much cared for self-control," Elijah replies. "I'm surprised you care. You've been surprisingly… blasé about everything."

Caroline begins to dig a makeshift grave for the body and doesn't say anything for the first few shovels. She is trying to decide how to put her thoughts into words.

"I'm not human, Elijah," she says at last.

Elijah rolls his eyes and makes a scoffing sound that is so at odds with his perfectly coiffed and suited self that it makes Caroline's brows raise.

"I thought you had realized that turning off your humanity isn't possible, Caroline. It's a cop-out."

"You didn't let me finish," Caroline replies. "I'm not human. That doesn't mean I don't feel. Human or not, we're all capable of love, and you're right, no matter what I may have told myself, turning off the love _doesn't_ work. But I'm not human, or even vampire. The more immersed I become in my powers, the more I… _enjoy_ this." She waves at the mangled body. "The violence, the anger and destruction put into it. I love Elena and Bonnie and the others, and I would go to the ends of the world for them. But these people aren't _mine_. I don't care about these nameless, faceless bodies. Not like I would've once. And that isn't something that's going to change with a flip of a switch. It's just who I am now. I don't like it, but I'm becoming… resigned to it."

"Stefan mentioned once that a voice speaks to you," Elijah says. "Does it still."

"Sometimes. More and more it's just memories and emotions. There's still enough difference that I don't feel quite complete. I think that's why I need to find out what I am. Then I'll be whole, for better or for worse."

"Well then, we'll just have to make sure my brother doesn't lose his curiosity about figuring it out. Between the two of us, we've been almost everywhere, heard almost every legend. We will figure it out, Caroline."

Caroline smiles and nudges Elijah with her shoulder.

"Careful, Elijah. Your sweet side's showing. If the vampire nation finds out it won't matter how many heads you rip off, your reputation as a bad ass will be shot to hell."

Elijah smirks and motions for her to continue digging.

"Yeah, yeah. Wouldn't want to muss up your suit, right?"

**(CWM)**

Caroline and Elijah follow Klaus for three days before he finally changes back. Of course, he's naked when they come across him sleeping in the forest.

"Holy shit, put some clothes on," Caroline says, covering her eyes with her hands. She only peeks once, snatching a look at Klaus through a small gap in her fingers. But crap, for the devil incarnate, the man is incredibly good looking. Caroline has always had a soft spot for the pretty boys, just look at her doomed time with Damon.

"How long was I transformed for?" Klaus asks Elijah.

"Three days. About our family Niklaus-"

"Yes, yes. You'll get them as promised," Klaus replies, waving Elijah's attempts at conversation aside. "Three days… I remember every moment. Excellent. I still have full control while transformed."

"If that's full control, I'd really hate to see what you do when you lose it," Caroline says, leaning against a tree. "Do you kill babies and drown small kittens?"

"Lovely to see you as well, Caroline. I'm glad to see you're taking your oath seriously. And how is the lovely Elena after the time we spent together?"

"Alive," Caroline replies with a shrug. "Coping. I only know what Stefan's texted me, and it's crap service up here. Do you think we could maybe head back to civilization? I haven't been able to shower since you went all wolf-man, and I feel disgusting. I also need a curling iron, pronto."

"So picky, the both of you," Klaus says with a sigh. "Alas, I'm sure Katerina has been missing us. We'll go and see how she has been doing since we left."

It takes three hours to get back to Mystic Falls, and Katherine hasn't been missing Klaus. But she is certainly surprised to see Caroline with him.

"Switching teams?" Katherine asks mockingly, when she sees the blonde. "Finally realized Elena will always be first, so you decided to help her die instead? And I assume she _is_ dead."

"You assume wrong," Caroline responds, sitting on a stool. "There was a spell, it brought her back to life. Everyone lives happily ever after, as long as I go with Klaus and play bodyguard."

"I'm not your happily ever after, love?" Klaus says mockingly. "I'm wounded. Really, I am. Have you missed us Katerina?"

"When are you going to let me go?" Katherine asks. "You have what you came for. You don't need me."

"Oh, but I do enjoy tormenting you, Katerina."

Katherine opens her mouth to speak, but Elijah cuts her off.

"That is enough, Niklaus. You promised me our family if I didn't interfere. I wish to collect."

Klaus snorts and smirks at his brother.

"You expect me to believe that you're going to leave the lovely Caroline to my tender care while you gallivant off with our siblings? I don't quite believe that, considering how oddly fond you are of our lovely young mystery. Quite against your type, brother. But I suppose all tastes can change."

"Klaus-"

"Oh, calm down brother. I swore you'd be reunited with our siblings, so"—Klaus spun around, driving the dagger Caroline had once been so mesmerized by into his brother's heart—"reunited you shall be."

Caroline stares at Elijah's rapidly greying body with something close to horror, then she looks up at Klaus. She had been relying on Elijah to help her control the crazy that is Klaus, but apparently even siblings weren't safe from the hybrid's brand.

"A reminder for you Caroline," Klaus says, meeting her horrified gaze with a hard one of her own. "I don't take betrayal lightly. From anyone." The apartment is infused with silence, and Caroline actually jumps when a loud banging comes from the door. "Would you mind getting that, sweetheart?"

"Seriously?" Caroline asks, getting up and going to the door, carefully avoiding looking at Elijah's body. "I signed on as bodyguard, not butler and… Stefan? What's the matter?"

Stefan doesn't say anything as he pushes past Caroline and heads for Klaus. He pauses for the briefest of moments when he sees Elijah, then visibly pulls himself together and continues for the hybrid.

"Tyler bit Damon the night of the sacrifice. Rumour has it there's a cure for a werewolf bite and you have it."

"I do," Klaus agrees good-naturedly, and it is so at odds with the man who just daggered Elijah that Caroline begins to think that she's bound himself to a man who is bi-polar. Treatable in humans, just plain scary in an immortal hybrid. "But why would I give it to you, mate?"

"Because I'll do whatever you ask me to if you do," Stefan replies.

"Stefan, don't-"

"No Caroline, you're going to have to hush with the Ripper and I talk this out," Klaus says, cutting Caroline off before she can argue with Stefan selling his soul. "To be honest, mate, I'm not sure you're of any use to me as you are now."

"Then what do I have to do?" Stefan asks. "What will get my brother that cure?"

Klaus smirks at Stefan, then turns the smirk to Caroline.

"Be a dear and grab a blood bag for me out of the fridge, won't you, love?" Klaus asks. Caroline hesitates, and Klaus' brows raise. "Now."

Caroline sighs and does as she's told. With Stefan here, there is a sword hanging above Caroline's head, and the oath prevents her from doing anything that could cause Klaus harm. The best way to keep everyone alive is to simply do as she's told.

Caroline's always hated being obedient.

She grabs the blood bag and stalks over to Klaus, shoving it into his hands.

"I hope you like AB positive," she mutters, stomping back to her stool and sitting once more, crossing her arms and glaring at Klaus.

"Don't pout, love. It's not a good look on you," Klaus replies. He looks at the blood bag smirks. "AB positive. It's not my favorite, but my tastes aren't in question here. Drink up, Ripper."

Klaus tosses Stefan the bag, and Stefan is so surprised by the words that he almost lets the bag fall to the ground. Caroline is on her feet again, gaping at Stefan and the bag of blood with horror.

"You can't do that," she says to Klaus. "Elena told me what happens to Stefan when he drinks human blood. He'll go all crazy."

"He'll go Ripper," Klaus corrects her, never taking his eyes from Stefan who is moving the bag back and forth between his hands, his expression an odd mixture of dread and longing. "Saint Stefan has nothing to offer me. The Ripper, however? Now that's someone I'll deal with."

"If I do this," Stefan says slowly. "You'll give Damon the cure?"

"Scout's honour," Klaus replies, resting his hand over his heart.

"As if you were ever a scout," Caroline mutters, scowling at Klaus who merely gives her an innocent smile in return. "Don't do this Stefan. There has to be some other way. Some other deal that can be cut."

"Not with you," Klaus replies. "You've already given me all that I want from you, Ms. Forbes. Now it's the Ripper's turn. You shouldn't be so selfish. Spread the martyrdom around. If you're allowed to bargain with yourself for Elena, surely Stefan can bargain with Damon."

Caroline sits down again, feeling miserable. She wants to tell Stefan not to do it, that Damon isn't worth giving up everything, but she has a feeling it's another one of those sibling things. You don't allow a sibling to suffer, even if it means you suffer to prevent it.

So, Caroline shuts up and watches as, one bag at a time, Stefan drains away his life in order to save his brother's.

"Enough," he finally says at one point, tossing aside another empty blood bag. "That's enough. Give me the cure."

"I believe I say when it's enough," Klaus mused. He had moved to take up the stool next to Caroline after bag number five, and now he is tapping his fingers on the counter top. "But fine, as a show of good will. Come here, Katerina."

Katherine stands and makes her way to Klaus. Klaus grabs her roughly, and digs his fangs into her wrist. Katherine curses and yanks her arm away. She cradles it to her chest and glares at Klaus.

"You've killed me," she hisses. Klaus smirks a crimson smirk, and digs his fangs into his own risk.

"Drink," he tells Katherine, holding the bleeding wound out to her. Katherine hesitates and Caroline rolls her eyes.

"Seriously, just do it," she says irritably. "Why pretend you'll disobey when we all know you'll just do as he says in the end."

Katherine turns her glare on Caroline, while Klaus smiles down at her and then reopens the wound and holds it out to Katherine once more. Katherine gives a sigh and latches on.

"You can be a bit catty, can't you love?" Klaus asks Caroline as Katherine pulls away from the wound. The bite on her wrist heals and she and Stefan stare at it in awe.

"I am, _was_, head cheerleader. Have you ever dealt with teenage girls before? They're as bitchy as they come," Caroline replies, ignoring the actions of Stefan and Katherine as they both look at the completely healed skin.

"I did deal with my sister for several centuries," Klaus replies. "I suppose I can see where you're coming from." He looks at Stefan. "As you can see, the cure is my blood."

"Yeah, I can see that," Stefan replies, but the quick look he shoots at Caroline tells her that he already knew that. Elena must have told him, and Caroline gives him a quick smile of thanks for not revealing her memory of centuries past to Klaus.

"Well then, we come to the real dealing now," Klaus says, clapping his hands together. "It's rather simple, Stefan. You can come with Caroline and I and revel once more in your Ripperhood knowing the Damon lives. Or you can stay here, boring as ever, if you can recover from your binge, of course, and watch Damon die. What will it be?"

Stefan doesn't look at Caroline or Katherine as he considers his options for approximately half a second. Then he nods.

"Deal."

"You do know Katherine is never coming back, right?" Caroline asks Klaus later, as she and Stefan load up Elijah's daggered body, which Klaus had put in a coffin.

"Of course, love," Klaus replies. "I'm no fool, and Katerina has been on vervain for quite some time now, waiting for this moment. I don't mind. Us three will hunt her down before too long. You don't seem to like her much. Perhaps I'll let you kill her."

"Sweet," Caroline replies, deadpan. "It's like the perfect Caroline-treat. Let me kill the crazy bitch who looks like my best friend. I'd do anything for the opportunity."

Klaus smirks.

"Ah, sweetheart. I do love your snark. Do try not to lose it on this trip, won't you?"

Caroline rolls her eyes and shoves the coffin into the van with Stefan, who closes the door once it's firmly inside. He and Klaus move around the van, but Caroline pauses, touching the window briefly. In the brief time they plotted together, Elijah earned Caroline's respect. And now she feels as if she's betraying him, by assisting his brother in locking him away.

"Don't get any ideas, love," Klaus warns her from where he stands with the driver's door open. "Your loyalty is to me. You'll assist me in achieving all the points on my to-do checklist, and nothing more. And all you need do is look at my brother to see where betrayal will get you."

Caroline sighs and removes her hand from the glass, but she promises that she won't forget about Elijah.

Caroline has a checklist of her own, after all.

She'll assist Klaus.

She'll watch over Stefan.

She'll find out what she is.

She'll find Marik.

And now? Now she'll save Elijah as well.

Because Caroline is capable of it all. She is far older than anyone else she's ever encountered, even Niklaus Mikaelson. And she's starting to remember.

**End Part One.**

**AN: And Elijah's daggered again. Please, everyone take a moment of silence for the whole fandom's favorite original… **

**So, that's the end of Part One. I think I'll keep posting Part two in this story. It's easier, and I won't lose any readers in transition this way. I plan on taking a little bit to get a few steps ahead in the writing process, so don't expect Part two until late next week at the earliest. Until then, please keep all those guesses and theories about Caroline coming, because some of them are really interesting. Also, I try to reply to most reviews, so if you have a question be sure you sign in so I can PM you an answer.**

**Thanks to everyone who was and continues to review. I love to hear from you.**


	19. Part II: The Odyssey

_**AN: And here we are, the beginning of Part II. This is a short opening that tells a bit more about the history of the four, and how the voice was cursed. If you haven't heard the song I quote at the beginning, "Little Talks," then you should look it up. The band is amazing, and the song is pretty much the anthem of the four.**_

**Part II: The Odyssey**

"There's an old voice in my head that's holding me back

Well tell her that I miss our little talks

Soon it will be over and buried with our past

We used to play outside when we were young and full of life and full of love"

~ "Little Talks", Of Monsters and Men

In the beginning there was innocence.

They were dark, and they were dangerous, but they were still just children. And they acted as such. Of course, for four such as them that meant disaster. They touched, and humanity fell. It was terrible, but they never saw it as such. They viewed the world through the wide eyes of children just discovering what they were capable of, and the world trembled before them.

But innocence never lasts, and they were not born to be innocent.

They soon realized their purpose, and they thrived on it. They walked through the world causing chaos and death, because that was their purpose. But as with so many things, humanity fears that which they don't understand. So they prayed to their gods for relief, and relief was granted.

For nearly a millennia they slept, and humanity, whose memory is so very short, soon forgot them. But they never forgot humanity.

When they were released, it was with fury in their hearts and blood in their eyes. They rode forth, and this time, it was no longer simply their nature driving them. They revelled in the suffering of man. Man wished them to sleep? Man would have to sleep with them.

But power is a vicious thing, and as it so often does it corrupted the four. Where they once stood so strong, they were now on separate sides. Ever fighting, ever trying to one-up each other, and ever causing suffering to man in their battle for supremacy.

It was in that battle for supremacy that Caroline met her downfall. For all her powers, she was to become victim of a witch who blamed Caroline's affinity for warfare as the cause of all her suffering. If not for war, the witch reasoned, she would not have lost everything. But the witch was not so foolish as to actually kill Caroline. Her essence, if not her presence, needed to continue to exist or the world's balance would be thrown off. So, the witch invoked the powers that had been called on all those centuries ago to put the four to sleep, and once again Caroline fell into a stasis. A stasis that was to remain as long as the witch's line remained on Earth.

Victor and Alice retreated, lest they be the next to fall prey to the witch. And so, for a while, the Earth seemed to be at peace. There was still chaos, for as long as there is man, the four exist, and if they exist there will always be darkness, but it was tempered. The great beings were removed from the pedestal of power they had placed themselves on.

The witch's bloodline continued to thrive, so Victor and Alice hid and bided their time. Caroline slept.

And Marik?

Marik hunted.


	20. Flashforward

_**One. Flashforward**_

For the first time in her seventeen (almost eighteen) years, Caroline is somewhere other than Mystic Falls. She's the indentured guard of an immortal hybrid and they have all the world at their feet.

So why, she wants to know, are they wasting their time in _Tennessee?_

They are in another small town, a small town that isn't so different from the one she left behind. When Caroline had made her deal with Klaus, a small part had been almost excited, because she had remembered Elijah's stories of times spent in England, France and Italy. He had told her of Rome and how the city was full of such rich history that even he could sometimes feel young while standing in its streets. Caroline supposes that she expected her time with Klaus to be spent in exotic locales like that.

Instead, she's preparing to go to another skivvy bar in another town that could be Mystic Falls' twin to chat up another skeevy middle-aged man so Klaus can scent out a wolf pack that is rumoured to be in the area.

It has been two months since the sacrifice. Two months since Caroline traded her freedom for Elena's a life. Two months since Stefan went Ripper to save his brother.

And Caroline has discovered that is an accurate name. Because that's what Stefan does… he rips. He rips and he tears and he drinks until there is nothing left. Then he tries to put the pieces back together. But the bodies are like a torn and crumpled paper. No matter what Stefan does, they never fit back together just right. And no matter how many times he puts those corpses back together, they will still be corpses, void of life. And it will be Stefan's fault.

He hasn't been able to meet her eyes since the first week of this twisted quest they're on.

Caroline wishes she could help Stefan, but he is not the only one who feels the twisted effects of Klaus' influence. The Original Hybrid is a monster of the highest order, and he wants his companions to be monsters as well.

With Stefan, it's easy. Cut open a human's vein, and Stefan has all the restraint of an alcoholic in a beer factory with freebies.

Caroline is different. Oh, she has all the kill, maim, hurt urges that came with her transition to this… other, but she's also a control freak. She's also a bit of a neat freak. Simply put, Caroline isn't lured into the messy violence of the Ripper lifestyle Klaus offers Stefan because a) that would mean giving up control of herself, and why would she do that? And b) it's so damn messy, and Caroline refuses to be messy when there's no guarantee of an immediate shower and detoxification.

But Klaus has learned these things about Caroline. He even seems oddly charmed by her little personality quirks. But that doesn't stop him from trying to use them against her.

In every town he lets Stefan loose in, Klaus has tried to use Caroline's OCD habits against her. He compelled a girl to spill her drink onto Caroline's favorite pink tank top. Caroline nearly ripped out the girl's jugular with her claws before she caught the smirk on Klaus' face and restrained herself.

Next, was the groping middle-aged pervert who tried to feel her up during a game of pool. That one wasn't even Klaus' doing. The guys was, simply put, just a dirt bag. Caroline broke all the fingers on the groping hand, but she didn't kill him. Instead, she smirked at Klaus' frown as the pervert left the bar.

The next day, she found out the man had been found dead on his doorstep with his head all but torn off. The townspeople were alarmed at the thought of a wild animal being loose in their town, and Klaus decided it was a good time to leave, but Caroline never once doubted who had killed that man, and she takes it as personal message.

It is Klaus' challenge. Either she'll become a monster, or he'll be the monster in her name. Either way she will be responsible for the deaths.

Caroline shakes herself out of the dark place her thoughts have taken her. She was already walking a thin line before leaving Mystic Falls. As she told Elijah, she wasn't human. And that made it so much easier to be a monster. Being on the road with Klaus and Stefan as her only company makes maintaining that balance even harder, because they are unwilling (or unable, in Stefan's case) to maintain that balance themselves.

If you stare into the face of evil long enough, evil will stare right back.

Okay, so Caroline's a total _American Horror Story_ geek. Sue her. It kills an hour on Wednesday night during the season's run, and Sister Jude's words from the end of _Asylum_ are so fitting for Caroline's situation that it makes her want to laugh.

She looks into the mirror in front of her. Her shirt is just a little too low, her jeans just a little too tight, her make-up a little too dark. This is her bait look. It's something she's perfected in the last eight weeks. Looking at her reflection, it's almost as if she's gone back in time. As if she's looking at the Caroline who fell for Damon's good looks and spent weeks as his slave. She looks like that desperate little fool, and is suddenly reminded that perhaps everything isn't so bad.

Maybe being bodyguard to a psycho hybrid killer was never on her list of dream jobs, but it's better than being poor little insecure Caroline again. She may hate the things Klaus is tempting her to do, and she may not know who she is, but she does know that whoever she's become is a better person than the girl she was just a few short months ago.

That Caroline would have never sacrificed her freedom for the love of a friend. This Caroline is not perfect, and she is dark, but she is someone to be proud of.

"Lovely, Love," Klaus drawls from the door of the bathroom where Caroline is preparing for another night out. His look says lovely, but his eyes lack the sentiment to back it up. She has noticed this about him. When she is her regular self, Klaus turns on the charm, but when she dresses as bait his expression always approaches distaste. "Exactly what we need to lure Ray in."

"I'm not sure what it says about you that you actually _want_ a man who can be lured in by this to be with you for eternity," Caroline says, motioning at herself. "I look so desperate I actually want to slap myself."

"In places like the one we're going, the men don't want your normally classy self," Klaus replies easily, grasping her hand and pulling her in so she is far too close to him. That's another thing Klaus likes to do to irritate her; invade her personal space. He reaches up and curls a lock of her hair around his finger. "It's a pity, as the normal Caroline is far more intoxicating than any desperate little girl could hope to be, but these kinds of establishments are for easy."

Caroline pushes away from him, feeling uneasy being so close to him. Klaus is far too good looking, and the old, desperate Caroline is still a part of her, albeit a dying one, but Caroline doesn't like to tempt fate. She hasn't had sex since before she changed, and a healthy libido is just another thing she shares with vampires, and whatever cologne Klaus is wearing smells remarkably good.

Klaus smirks at her as she pulls away, and the look in his eyes tells her that he knows _exactly_ where her thoughts had gone. It doesn't help the situation that Klaus has made it clear in the past few weeks that, should Caroline find her itch becomes unbearable, he would be more than happy to help her scratch it.

Caroline scowls and shoves past him to re-enter the room where Stefan is sprawled on a bed watching the news with uninterested eyes. The anchorwoman is reporting the odd animal attacks that had occurred in a town half an hour away the previous night. Caroline sighs and turns off the television. She hadn't gone with Klaus and Stefan the previous night, choosing instead to stay in and watch the new _Dallas_ while the boys went for their bite. She now knew where they had gone to find it.

"He was abusing his wife," Stefan says, not taking his eyes off the now blank screen. "And their daughter."

"Oh, does the Ripper feel the need to defend his meal choice?" Klaus asks. "_My_ choice was a college freshman who had never received so much as a speeding ticket. She was delicious."

"Let's get this over with," Caroline says, trying to ignore the thought of the innocent girl who had probably been so terrified in her last moments. Caroline hadn't been murdered, but she could still remember the fear she felt when Damon would drink from her. The moment where you were too petrified to scream, and then it was too late because they were just _that_ fast.

Caroline hates that she has to defend a monster that would put another girl through that. But one good thing comes out of Klaus' lack of morals; it works as a cold splash of water to the face. Klaus' exterior may be hot as hell, but what is inside of him frightens Caroline. She would like to say it disgusts her, only she knows it's inside of her as well. But as long as she keeps that fear close, she's sure she'll never fall to the depraved depths that Klaus has.

The bar is smoky and smells like sweat and lust. Caroline enters alone first. She is the bait; an innocent who is looking to get laid for the first time, and all she has to do to play the part is remember how she felt the night she cried to Bonnie about her inferiority complex regarding Elena. The same night she picked up Damon and entered a terrifying hell for the next few weeks. It's easier than usual to remember that time in her life, because Klaus' latest escapades have brought the memories to the forefront. So, Caroline pushes her new badass self aside for the moment and becomes that girl again.

And Klaus despite, or maybe because of, his evil actions and complete lack of morals, reads how humans (and wolves) react in a given situation perfectly. Because Caroline is in the bar for hardly five minutes when Ray is sidling onto the barstool next to her and offering to buy her a drink.

Caroline smiles shyly and agrees, asking for something girly and sweet, and she can tell by the look in Ray's eyes as he smiles at her that he thinks he's getting lucky.

He finds out otherwise when, an hour later, Caroline plays drunk and stumbles out of the bar, putting most of her weight on Ray, and hands him right into Klaus' hands.

This time, while Klaus tortures the locations and names of Ray's pack out of him, it is Caroline who can't meet Stefan's eyes.

(CWM)

"Why are you helping him?" Ray asks Caroline the next day, as they sit in the back of Klaus's SUV. He is driving them to the forest, where Ray has set up a meeting of the pack. Here, Klaus will make his first attempt at creating his hybrid army. "You're not evil like he is. I know you're not."

"You don't know anything," Caroline replies coldly. She doesn't want to look at Ray. When the bodies are faceless and nameless, it is easy to ignore them. But Ray is not faceless. He is not nameless. And she feels something approaching guilt for handing him over to his Reaper. Caroline considers flipping the switch again, but the blinders regarding that ability have been removed from her. She knows the feeling of no humanity is just an illusion, something immortals tell themselves to make the guilt a little easier to handle. Despite the freedom it gives, it doesn't last, and then you end up feeling all that guilt anyways, plus whatever other guilt you've gathered by treating your loved ones like crap. So, instead she tries to tell herself that Ray is the creep that tried to pick up the minor girl in a bar.

Only… Ray didn't know that she was a minor, and Caroline had been doing everything in her power to make him _want_ to pick her up. And even if he was that creep, that doesn't mean he deserves to become Klaus' experiment. Caroline knows what it's like to be under Klaus' control, and she feels a vague sense of disgust that she's now played an active part in putting someone else under that control as well.

"This wasn't part of our bargain," Caroline says, turning away from Ray to meet Klaus' eyes in the rear view mirror. He has been watching her interactions with Ray, his face expressionless. "I said I'd protect you, not that I'd gift wrap werewolves for you. I don't do this again."

"You don't really get a choice, love," Klaus replies.

"Yes, I do. Otherwise I'll consider our deal broken."

"If that happens, then I'll just return to Mystic Falls and kill Elena." Klaus' eyes flash in challenge, and Caroline feels her hackles rise.

"That only works if you get to her first. One call and Damon will make her disappear. It will be Katherine all over again," Caroline snarls back.

"Then I'll turn on Bonnie, or your mother, or young Matthew Donovan and Tyler Lockwood. Even Stefan here would work. So many people you care about, Caroline. You can't hide them all."

Caroline recalls Katherine's words from what seems like a lifetime ago. You're only as powerful as your weakest link. Klaus is right; Caroline has too many people she loves. Until those loved ones are gone, people like Klaus and Katherine who have no one to lose will always be more powerful than her.

"Care, you need to calm down," Stefan says soothingly. He isn't looking at her. Instead, his gaze is fixed firmly on the sky outside and Caroline looks to see lightning flashing in the sky above them.

"What the hell?" Ray asks. "There're no clouds."

Once again, Caroline meets Klaus' gaze in the rear view mirror and he raises and eyebrow. As much as Caroline enjoys being able to grasp onto the electrical currents in the air, she will admit that this visible sign of her upset is irritating. It's difficult to have a good poker face when strong emotions make the sky light up like the fourth of July. But the look in Klaus' stare now is a challenge. He loves that he can push her to the brink. That he can piss her off so much, but she can't do anything about it.

Caroline closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and calms her raging temper. When she opens her eyes again, the lightning has stopped flashing, and Klaus is no longer watching her.

"We'll discuss it after I've turned this first wave," Klaus says, still not looking at her. "Your duties as guard will stand, but I may find someone amongst these wolves who can be the bait."

It's the first time in two months that Klaus has been willing to compromise, and it surprises Caroline greatly, even as it makes her suspicious. Then she remembers the distaste on Klaus' face the night before when she had handed Ray over to him, and he had told her to wash the stink of desperate puppy off of herself.

This isn't a compromise, it's just Klaus using Caroline's demands as a convenient excuse to do something he wanted to do anyway while trying to earn her gratitude in the process. It worries Caroline that she knows Klaus well enough to know how he thinks, but not as much as it worries her that he was bothered by her smelling of another man.

Caroline hopes that Ray's corpse won't be the next one found with its head ripped off.

_**AN: And there we are. The first couple of chapters are just sort of setting the story up, but in chapter 3 we meet someone who has actually met Alice! Once again, the story will include many of the events from S3, but it will get more and more AU as part 2 continues, and Part 3 will have nothing to do with S4, and go in its own direction completely different from the show. So, I hope you've all stuck with me and enjoyed the start of Part 2. Please drop me a review if you enjoyed (or if you didn't, and feel like telling me why. Good criticism is always helpful).**_


	21. Failure

_**AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I cracked 100! Yay! In this chapter, we find out exactly how deep the blood oath goes, and Damon makes an appearance. Oh, and Caroline gets to cut a bitch. I always love writing when she does that.**_

**Two. Failure**

The wolves are gathered in the clearing in the forest, just as Ray promised. When they see Caroline pushing Ray in front of her, the werewolf tied up and mussed, Caroline can see the tensions rise in the group.

Ray is their Alpha, and they don't like seeing their leader in the hands of two vampires and Caroline, who they likely assume is a vampire as well.

Ah well, Caroline remembers what her grandmother always said about assuming.

"What is this?" one of the wolves, a pretty brunette who looks no older than twenty with big green eyes, asks. She looks ready to pounce at Caroline, so Caroline angles her wrist so that her delicate claws, which are held at Ray's throat, are visible to the whole pack.

An uneasy murmur passes through the group. Vampires they can handle; hell, the packs live to kill vampires. But they have never seen anyone like Caroline before.

"Hello, all," Klaus says, stepping between Caroline and Ray and those uneasy, angry stares. "I'm Klaus. And I'm here to offer you a once in a lifetime opportunity."

"Oh?" asks a male wolf who looks about forty. "What's that?"

"Immortality, of course," Klaus replies jovially. "You lot are going to become my very first hybrid pack."

"Hybrid," the outspoken brunette murmurs. "You mean, as in _vampires_? Thanks, but I'd rather die."

"That can be arranged," Klaus replies, the friendliness dropping from his voice, replaced by ice. "As you can see, Caroline here has a good hold on your dear Alpha. Disobey me, and she will kill him,"

"Just like a good trained puppy?" the brunette sneers. "Airheads don't frighten me."

Caroline growls low in her throat, and Ray's eyes dart towards her fearfully. Her claws are mere centimeters from his neck, and he obviously fears that she'll lose her temper and take it out on him. She won't, of course, but the brunette is a different story. Caroline doesn't like to be underestimated.

"Airheads… hmmm. That isn't very polite of her, is it Caroline? Stefan, take Ray from our dear Ms. Forbes, won't you?"

Stefan steps up next to Caroline and takes Ray from her. He positions his hands for an easy neck snap, while Klaus holds his hand out to Caroline. She considers for a brief moment ignoring the appendage. She has so few opportunities for rebellion, and this seems like one, but the look in Klaus' eyes says that crossing him right now is dangerous, so Caroline places her palm in his and lets him pull her to his side. He wraps an arm around her waist and holds her flush against him.

"Perhaps I should let you show this lot what an airhead can do, my pet," Klaus muses, smirking down at the top of Caroline's head. Caroline bristles at the term _my pet_, and she knows that Klaus is riling her on purpose. He knows how much she hates to be underestimated and condescended too, and so he's purposely riling her temper. It's working, and she can feel the violence building beneath her skin.

It doesn't help that the pack is angry as well. She can feel the dark emotions in the air, and the power they hold calls out to her. She can remember using that power to kick Mason Lockwood's ass, and she knows she could do it again with the belligerent brunette.

Caroline meets the girl's eyes, and whatever she sees there makes her take a step away from Caroline.

"What the hell are you?" the brunette asks.

Caroline doesn't answer, but she can imagine what the brunette sees. Glowing silver eyes and hair that snaps in the invisible currents around them. She looks at Klaus, who releases his grip on her and inclines her head.

"Keep her alive, Caroline."

It's the first time Klaus has given such an order, and it almost amuses Caroline to hear it. As if she needed someone to tell her not to commit murder. She hates the mess, remember?

Still, the feel of the werewolf's nose snapping beneath her fist is gratifying. This violence has been building for two months, and it feels wonderful to release it on someone who isn't so very fragile and breakable.

Next, she takes her anger out on the werewolf's arm, snapping the bone in two separate places. The other pack members had apparently gone into shock at Caroline's first rapid movements, but the sound of the snapping bone seems to bring them out of their shock, and they attack en masse.

One manages to get a good shot in, and Caroline can feel her jaw break. She snarls in pain and smashes two skulls together before leaping away from the wolves for a moment to snap her jaw bones back in place. They will heal properly, so Caroline throws herself back into the fury. She is full of power, and these wolves doubt her superiority. Not even Caroline's ingrained Type-A dislike of mess can save them now.

Soon, the ground is littered with wounded but living werewolves, and Caroline turns her eyes on the one that started it all. Caroline's shoulder is dislocated, and she thinks a rib might be broken, but she is too focused on the she-wolf to care. She stands over the brunette and looks down coldly. The brunette's leg had been snapped sometime in the fight, and so she is helpless at Caroline's feet. Caroline reaches up almost casually, and snaps her shoulder back into place. Then she looks at the brunette, pulls back her claws, and aims them straight at the werewolf's heart.

The kill-shot is intercepted by Klaus, who takes the claws to his arm. He hisses angrily, his eyes turning to black gold at the pain, and Caroline reels back as she feels a sharp pain in her own bicep. She pulls her claws back, but the damage is done.

To both of them.

On Klaus' arm, there are four deep, angry red scratches. And in Caroline's arm there is the same.

"I told you not to kill her!" Klaus growls.

Caroline wants to growl right back, but the matching slashes on their arms bring Caroline back to herself with a crashing thud. The anger and violence and thirst for blood drain from her as the implications of what this means hits her.

_I told you that failing to fulfill your oath sucks._

Caroline wants to curse at the voice, and she wants to curse at Klaus, who is looking at her arm with clear interest. Stefan has stepped up to her side and pulls her hand away from the cuts. He looks between Caroline and Klaus and really does curse.

"Well, Love," Klaus says with a wicked smirk. "You always keep things interesting."

(CWM)

In the end, the brunette dies anyway.

It all begins when Klaus feeds the wolves his blood and kills them. And then the transition to vampire goes all wrong. There is blood and puking, and it's just plain gross.

Then Ray manages to get one over on Stefan, who ends up with a werewolf bite and an insane, transitioning hybrid on the loose.

"He'll need your blood to live," Caroline tells Klaus, looking at Stefan's wound. It's deep and looks painful.

"He won't get any until he finds my hybrid," Klaus replies, surveying the mess around them in anger. It looks sort of like a high school kegger, with all of the puke. Only Caroline is pretty sure the wolves would have preferred the party to having their necks snapped.

"He can't find your hybrid if he's hallucinating that he's in freaking wonderland!"

Klaus looks unimpressed with Caroline's outburst and shrugs a shoulder.

"Then go with him, keep him in the real world, away from any blue caterpillars. I don't care, just bring Ray back."

So, that's how Caroline and Stefan end up walking through the woods at night searching for a hybrid-gone-wrong.

"Are you okay?" Caroline asks as she picks her way over a fallen log.

"I'm fine," Stefan replies, reaching over to offer his hand. Caroline takes it and lets him assist her over the dead tree. It's nice, to have that brief moment of camaraderie. It's been missing from their relationship since Stefan returned to his Ripper ways. "I'm old enough that the hallucinations will take a while to set in."

Caroline shivers at the thought of being victim to such a vicious poison.

"Klaus is an ass," she informs Stefan pertly. "It would be way easier if he just gave you his blood."

"Easier, yes, but Klaus gets off on the suffering of others. All we can do is find Ray and hope Klaus figures out what went wrong so he feels like being merciful and giving me his blood."

"Fair enough. Can you smell Ray? That's one sense of mine that didn't seem to get any better. I can see right now like it's daylight and I can hear every damn cricket within five miles, but smell? Not a—did you hear that?"

"What?" Stefan asks. Caroline holds up her hand and whirls around listening closely. She hears it again, a faint bellow.

"That," Caroline replies, and she shoots off after the bellow like a bat out of hell. Stefan is on her heels, and they barrel into a clearing together.

They have found Ray. He's snarling and foaming at the mouth like a rabid wolf, and he has Damon Salvatore struggling beneath him on the forest floor.

Caroline is shocked, though she realizes she shouldn't be. Stefan is Damon's brother, and while the pair may not get along all the time, she has come to learn that nothing is as strong as that bond between siblings. It was in your blood and bone, as the voice had once said.

Stefan doesn't let surprise take hold of him as Caroline has. Perhaps he expected this. No matter the reason for his quick reaction, he flashes behind Ray and yanks the wolf's heart out of his chest. He drops the organ to the ground as Ray's dead body collapses on top of Damon.

"Impeccable timing, brother," Damon says, pushing the dead hybrid off him. He gets to his feet and nods at Caroline. "Good to see you, Blondie."

"What are you doing here?" Caroline asks, coming to stand at Stefan's side.

"Elena discovered I've been keeping tabs on the Ripper here and decided she wanted to pursue her own hunting party. It was either come or let her and Ric stumble around the forest alone. Jenna tried to stop them, but nothing and no one can stop Elena's crusade to find and save the pair of you. So, instead we help and hope she doesn't die."

"Take her home, Damon," Stefan replies. "Take her home and tell her to forget about me. I can't be saved."

"Don't you think I've tried to tell her that, Stefan?" Damon replies. "She won't believe me. But then, she's never seen you after you've gone full Ripper. Besides, it's not just you. She's searching for Caroline here, as well."

"I swore a blood oath, Damon. I can't break it. Hell, it turns out that if anything happens to Klaus, it happens to _me_ as well. I'm well and truly trapped," Caroline replies. She turns her eyes on Stefan. "I'd tell you to go… but you need Klaus' blood."

"I'm beyond saving, Care," Stefan replies. "Even by Elena. I'm better off with Klaus anyways."

"That's bullshit," Caroline replies bluntly. "You've gone on blood binges before, haven't you? If you've come back then, you can come back now."

"I had Lexie then," Stefan replies, and Damon looks down with something approaching guilt. Caroline remembers then that Damon had killed Lexie, and blamed a spree of "animal attacks" on her. "Without her, I don't know how to stop."

"Coming back to Mystic Falls would be a good start," Damon says.

"I can't, Damon. I need Klaus' blood," Stefan motions at the bite. "Just… tell Elena you couldn't find us. That we obviously didn't want to be found. Whatever it takes for her to give this up."

"Come with me and tell her yourself. You can talk to her and be back to Klaus before the venom really sets in."

"No," Stefan replies firmly.

"Stefan…" Caroline begins, but Stefan cuts her off.

"No, Caroline. Elena needs to forget about me. You didn't give up your life so she could spend hers pining for someone that doesn't even exist anymore." Stefan turned back to Damon. "Deal with it."

Then he walks away from them, his hand still covered in Ray's blood.

"You've known him before and after one of these binges," Caroline says to Damon. "How do I get through to him? Because watching him destroy himself is horrible."

"I don't know, Freakshow Barbie," Damon replies. "I've never had problems drinking human blood. It's good, but nothing to lose your head over. Unless you're Stefan, of course."

"Even when I'm gone you can come up with new nicknames? Good to know I'm on your mind," Caroline drawls, rolling her eyes. She hesitates, then asks a question she's been desperate to have answered since she left Mystic Falls. "How is my mom?"

"Worried about you," Damon replies immediately. "She shot Jeremy, while you were off chasing puppy Klaus. She figured out that I was a vampire, and she tracked me down. But I was so gone with the werewolf venom that I fled and her bullet hit Jeremy instead. Bonnie managed to save him somehow, but Liz was pretty broken up over it."

"Wow," Caroline is shocked. "So she knows you're a vampire then. How have you managed to stay in Mystic Falls with that out in the open?"

"It's not," Damon admits. "After I was healed, Elena and I went to her. I removed her compulsion, Blondie. She remembers that day in the cellar. At first she was horrified, ready to kill me on the spot. Then Elena explained everything about Klaus, and what you did for us. Why you acted the way you did in the cellar. I think it freaks her out a bit, to know her daughter is supernatural, but… well, she seemed a little proud, too. But she's on our side now. She even helped me with tracking Stefan."

"That's… wow. That's great, I guess? Can you… can you tell her I love her, Damon? And that I'm sorry it ended up this way?"

"Yeah. But are you sure you can't come? One of you is better than none, and Elena might actually start to relax."

"No. Look… tell Elena she needs to stop. If Klaus finds out that she's tracking us. Well, I don't want to think about that. I'm fine. Stefan is… Stefan is not fine, but I'm doing what I can. Tell Elena to be happy. I have to get back to Klaus. If I'm too far behind Stefan, he'll start asking questions. I don't want that tonight."

Caroline grips Damon's wrist briefly in good-bye, then heads after Stefan. She stops and turns back for one last question.

"How is Jenna handling being a vampire? I've wondered for a while."

"She has me, and Ric and Elena," Damon replies. "We've kept a pretty close eye on her. She's only slipped up once. She'll be okay. Take care of yourself, Blondie. And my brother. I'll take care of everyone back home."

"Good-bye, Damon. Someday, we'll meet again, and this will all be just a blip in our timeline."

Caroline is gone before Damon can reply, running after his brother, returning to the man who is making them all miserable.

Caroline only hopes that this is the last time in Elena's life that Caroline sees Damon. Because Caroline can do simple math. One dead werewolf plus one dead vampire plus one living doppleganger divided by werewolves who die rather than be turned… well Caroline thinks she knows how this story ends.

It's back in Mystic Falls with Elena dead.

Only this time, Caroline will have nothing with which to bargain for her friend's life.

(CWM)

Caroline manages to catch up to Stefan not far from the clearing where they left Klaus. He is starting to look clammy, and Caroline thinks that they don't have long before the hallucinations begin. Together they enter the clearing and find the hybrid standing in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by the dead forms of the pack.

"It didn't work," Klaus says bleakly as they join him.

"We had to kill Ray," Stefan informs him. "He was too far gone."

Klaus picks up a water bottle that had belonged to the pack. He bites his wrist open and lets some of the blood pour into the bottle before tossing it to Stefan. Stefan catches it and looks at it blankly for a moment, before draining the contents. Immediately, the bite begins to heal.

"What do we do now?" Caroline asks. "Did you have a plan, for if the hybrid thing didn't work?"

"I haven't exhausted all my options yet, Sweetheart," Klaus replies, and Caroline feels a thrill of fear that Klaus can do basic math as well. His next words alleviate that fear, however. "We're off to Chicago, next. I need some information from the other side, and I know a witch who can get it for me. Have you ever been to Chicago, Caroline?"

"No," Caroline replies. "I haven't been anywhere but Mystic Falls. Until now… and honestly, nothing we've seen so far has really impressed me."

"It wouldn't," Klaus agrees, leading Caroline to the van and opening the passenger door for her, forcing Stefan to ride in the back this time around. The conversation seems to be cheering Klaus up, so Caroline is willing to continue it. "Chicago will, however. Wonderful city. Just ask the Ripper, he knows all about Chicago."

Klaus shuts the door and makes his way to the driver's seat while Caroline looks at Stefan in the rear view mirror in question.

"It's a time in my life I don't like to talk about," Stefan says to the unspoken question and Klaus climbs in.

"Oh, don't be so shy, Ripper," Klaus scoffs. He turns blue eyes to Caroline and smiles his disarmingly charming smile. "Back in the 20s, Chicago was Stefan's hunting grounds. It will be just like the old times."

Caroline thinks of what she's experienced so far this summer, Stefan's Ripper tendencies when he still had his humanity. She doesn't think she wants to know what he was like in the 20s, when he was a true Ripper in every way, and reveled in it.

Then she wonders how Klaus knows where Stefan's chosen hunting grounds were. And why the hybrid is so very desperate to bring Stefan back to the Ripper he once was.

_**AN: And there is chapter 2. Next chapter, we head to Chicago, where we meet Gloria who happens to know a thing or two about a certain sister of Caroline's. It is written, and it should be up pretty quickly. As always, please leave me a few words in the reviews.**_


	22. Chicago

_**AN: And here is where the story starts to get fun. I'm posting this so quickly because of all the lovely reviews I got for the previous chapter. Please enjoy:**_

**Three. Chicago**

The Windy City is the first place Klaus has taken them that even approaches the mental image Caroline had created of what the rest of her life would be. It's bustling, and big, and far more exciting than Mystic Falls had ever been. Caroline wants to explore, to see what the city has to offer her.

Instead, Klaus takes them straight to yet another bar.

"You know, I'm not legally supposed to be in a place like this," Caroline comments dryly. "Seventeen, remember?"

"Ah, in our lifestyle that is no matter, Sweetheart," Klaus replies. "Look at Stefan. Forever a teenager, yet this used to be one of his favorite haunts."

"Seriously?" Caroline asks, looking at Stefan with a raised brow.

"Gloria's was one of the most popular hideaways in the '20s," Stefan explains stonily. "I spent my share of time here."

"And what a wild time it was," interrupts a smooth female voice. A dark skinned woman has come out into the bar from a back room. "Stefan Salvatore. It's been a while."

"Gloria. You should be dead," Stefan replies, though there is a fond smile flirting with his lips.

"Anyone with enough power can extend their life. It's a child's trick."

"You're a witch," Caroline says, eyeing the woman with interest. The only witch she had really had any contact with was Bonnie. Elijah's witches mostly just interacted with him, and had disappeared after the Original had been daggered, and Klaus' witches… well, Caroline tried not to think too hard about them.

"And you are… not a vampire," Gloria responds, walking up to Caroline with narrowed eyes. "And not a werewolf. There's darkness to you… but it's not unnatural. I don't think I've ever met anyone as connected to nature as you are, and I'm a witch. Can you control the elements?"

Caroline is surprised by the question, and then she feels a burst of excitement. Is this what she's been looking for? Could Gloria possibly know what she is?

"Not really. Electricity. I can feel it, in the air around me. It gives me power," Caroline says, her words almost stringing together she speaks so fast. "Do you know what I am? It's just, no one's ever asked me a question like that before and-"

"Slow down, Love," Klaus says, laying a palm on Caroline's shoulder. Her gaze shoots to him, and there's something in his eyes telling her not to say anymore. Caroline frowns for a second, then sharp realization hits her. Klaus will utilize Gloria's abilities, will come to her for answers about his hybrids, but he does not trust her. And Caroline has come close to saying too much.

"You're a creation of nature. I can feel that much about you. But I don't know anything more than that." Gloria turns away, but before she does Caroline sees something in her eyes, something that raises her suspicions, and she reaches out to grasp the witch's wrist.

"Have you ever met anyone like me before?"

She would have missed it, if she hadn't been looking so closely. A faint tick in Gloria's eye right before she answers.

"No."

"You're lying," Caroline hisses, feeling anger begin to build in her. Before she can act on it, Gloria is giving her an aneurism, one even more powerful than the witches in Mystic Falls had given her. Caroline releases Gloria and grasps her head, growling in pain.

"Let up, Gloria," Klaus says, his voice dangerous. "Caroline's young and reckless, but she'll back off. Won't you, Sweetheart?"

The warning is very clear—Caroline will back off, or she won't like the consequences. Caroline wants to hiss and shout and punch Klaus in the face for interfering, but she remembers what happens to him happens to her, and the last thing she needs is a broken nose.

"Fine," she mutters, closing her eyes and focusing on drawing her anger back in. She pulls it into a tiny ball in her chest. She has done this before in the last two months, and she knows that if she can just get away from whatever is making her mad (Klaus and Gloria, in this case), she can make that little ball dissipate.

"Excellent. Gloria and I have some business to discuss. You two can wait out here while we do so." Klaus motions for Gloria to proceed him into the back room, and the witch glides gracefully away. But her attention never fully leaves Caroline, not until the witch is safely out of sight.

"So, this was one of your favorite hang outs, was it?" Caroline asks Stefan, moving behind the bar and surveying the alcohol selection. If she's waiting on Klaus, she's at least going to wait with a drink in her hand.

"Yes. I was a different person back then. I… _liked_ being a Ripper. I had turned it all off, and I was just enjoying the blood bath. I spent the better part of the twenties that way," Stefan replies, sitting across from her on one of the bar stools. "If Elena knew the things I had done back then… she would have never looked twice at me."

"That's not true," Caroline responds, thinking of all the horrible things Damon had done, and how Elena still managed to somehow care for him. "Elena is pretty forgiving."

"But you're not. If you knew the things I had done, you wouldn't let me anywhere near her."

Caroline thinks of the last two months and gives a snort.

"I have a pretty good idea, Stef," she replies, pouring bourbon into one glass and tequila into another. "I imagine it's a lot like the past two months, just with a lot less remorse. I'm not really in a position to judge, though. My temper is so frayed that I may just start to join you on those ripping sprees. I feel like I'm losing myself."

"That's how it starts," Stefan replied, accepting the bourbon. "You lose yourself, and it just seems easier to stay lost. To keep it turned off."

"I don't think I can turn it off. Elijah basically ruined the idea of it being a legitimate option for me. And well… look how well it worked for me last time. The first sign of trouble, and the emotions came right back out," Caroline tosses back her shot and pours another. "No, if I lose myself it won't be because I turned it off, it will be because I'm well and truly lost. The kind of lost you never come back from. I simply won't be _me_ anymore."

Stefan opens his mouth to reply, but then stops as they hear Gloria speaking.

"I need to talk to the witch who made the curse."

"That's difficult to do, considering she's _dead_," Klaus growls in reply.

"Then I need a way to connect to her on the other side. Bring me Rebekah."

Both Caroline and Stefan have gravitated towards the door to the back room without realizing it. Caroline begins to backtrack away, but one of the pictures on Gloria's wall catches her eye. It was clearly taken in the twenties. It's black and white, but Caroline doesn't need color to know that the girl in the flirty dress is a red head. The hair is much shorter, cut off at the ears, but Caroline knows her. She has dreamed of her.

This is Alice. This is the sister the voice has always had such conflicting feelings of. Caroline remembers the first time she remembered Alice, when she asked the voice how you kept going through the grief and the weariness, and Alice had figured so prominently in the good memories. But she has dreamt of Alice since. She has dreamt of those good times. She has also dreamt of darker times, times once the lines were drawn. Victor and Marik were enemies, and each sister had chosen an opposing side.

Caroline pulls the picture down and traces Alice's face. There are similarities between them, in the shape of the eyes and the chin. They have the same nose. Caroline's fingers go to her own face, and though she had never really wondered about it before, this is the first time she really realizes that hers is the face the voice wore one thousand years ago.

"Holy crap," Stefan says, his voice hoarse, and Caroline thinks he has seen the similarities between her and Alice as well, but when she looks to him, Stefan is not looking at Caroline. He is looking at a different picture, a picture that holds a memory of his own, one he had obviously forgotten.

Because the picture Stefan is staring at is of two men. One is Stefan. The other is Klaus.

And they have their arm around the others shoulder, looking like the very best of friends.

"Those were the good times," Klaus says. He has emerged from the back room, Gloria close behind him. "When we were like brothers. Though I did hate you at first."

(CWM)

"I don't get it," Stefan says, for what seems to Caroline like the millionth time. "I have no memories of you. Or this sister of yours you claim I knew."

Stefan and Caroline are rushing through a warehouse after Klaus. The Hybrid has been smirking pretty much since they left the bar, and Caroline wishes he would just give Stefan his answers.

"And I told you, Stefan, I compelled you. Unfortunate circumstances meant that I had to break our acquaintance, and I couldn't simply let you remember everything. You knew too much."

"I thought you said you guys were like brothers," Caroline chirps, adding her two cents. "That doesn't seem very brother-like."

Klaus pauses briefly to shoot her an amused look.

"You've met my brother. Remember Elijah? The man who betrayed me?"

He continues to move, and Caroline scowls at his back. Of course she remembers Elijah. She's wanted to release him for over two months, but she has no idea where Klaus keeps the coffins of his family locked.

"As it is, Gloria tells me she needs Rebekah in order to determine _why_ my hybrids won't change. You should know that Bekah can be mean," Klaus continues, leading them into a room. It's large, but Caroline's eyes are immediately drawn to the south end where six coffins are sitting, seemingly harmless.

Caroline recognizes the one that holds Elijah and her eyes focus in on it.

"I wouldn't suggest that," Klaus tells her softly. He and Stefan have paused next to a white coffin, but Caroline is frozen next to Elijah's. "My brother will be less than pleased with the little… _fib_ I pulled on him. He will attack me. And you know what happens then."

Caroline meets Klaus' eyes and keeps her face as blank as possible. Of course she remembers what happens then. If Elijah attacks Klaus, he attacks Caroline as well. Caroline lays a hand softly on top of the coffin, then sighs heavily and moves away from it. The time to awaken Elijah isn't here yet.

"I sometimes wonder," Klaus muses, his voice filled with benign curiosity, though his eyes are like ice, "exactly what happened between you and Elijah, to make you so fond of each other."

"Nothing that you're thinking," Caroline replies, her voice cool. "We never had some torrid affair. We were allies. And Elijah understood what I was going through, better than anyone else I've ever known."

"I understand," Klaus replies, and Caroline thinks he might feel insulted. "I went through the same transition as Elijah."

"True, but you seem to have completely removed yourself from your humanity. Elijah knew better," Caroline responds. "You can tell yourself you've turned it off, but it will always turn back on. Emotions aren't a switch to be flipped. They're always there."

"You know nothing," Klaus replies, flipping open the coffin. "You're an infant."

Caroline wants to snarl back that she's older than him, but Caroline has been very careful about how much she tells Klaus. She's held her cards very close to her chest, and revealing her hand at anything other than the perfect moment could result in disaster.

So, she bites her tongue and looks at the coffin.

Rebekah is still dressed like a 1920s flapper. Her skin is the same unhealthy gray that Elijah's had been, and Caroline feels a pang for the girl. Rebekah looks no older than seventeen, eighteen at the most. Caroline wonders if they are aware in this daggered state, if they dream. Or if they're just in darkness until Klaus decides to wake them.

"Well, little sister," Klaus says, pulling the dagger from Rebekah's chest. "It's time to wake up."

Caroline and Stefan stand flanking Klaus, and Caroline realizes she is holding her breath, so she lets it out in a sighing stream. She's not sure what she had expected when Klaus removed the dagger, but it wasn't this. Rebekah is still gray, and still just lying there. It seems so… anti-climatic.

"Maybe being daggered so long broke her?" Caroline suggests. "I mean… she still seems pretty de… oh, her colour is coming back."

"It takes them time to awaken," Klaus agrees. "I'll get a guard to direct her in our direction when she awakens. For now, let's go and bond over some drinks. You can tell me all about that picture you've been clutching so tightly since we left Gloria's, Caroline."

Caroline looks down at her hand in surprise. She had all but forgotten that she still held Alice's picture. She holds it up so she can look at her sister, the features so similar to Caroline's own.

"Who's that?" Stefan asks, looking over her shoulder. "She looks a lot like you. Is she the…" here, Stefan pauses, glancing uneasily at Klaus. "You know."

"No," Caroline replies, once again tracing Alice's face. "She's my sister."

"Well then," Klaus says, raising his brows. "I do believe that story _will_ require a drink."

(CWM)

So, Caroline finds herself standing next to Klaus while Stefan enters what was once his apartment.

"A sister?" Klaus asks as they wait. "I wasn't aware you had one. No one made mention of it in Mystic Falls."

"You weren't in Mystic Falls all that long," Caroline replies stiffly.

"I was there long enough to learn all about you, Miss Mystic Falls. Daughter of the sheriff, head cheerleader, girlfriend of the quarterback. You were leading quite the cliché life."

Caroline scowls at him.

"That's creepy," she states. "Like, really creepy. But your information was off. I was the _ex_-girlfriend of the quarterback. Sudden transitions to non-human are hell on high school relationships."

"You could do much better anyway," Klaus replies, waving her words away. "Small town life, small town boy. It would have never been enough for you. But you didn't answer my question."

"I didn't hear a question." Caroline leans against the wall and crosses her arms. "Just some statements of what you view as fact."

Klaus rolls his eyes, and it's obvious that he dislikes Caroline's avoidance of the issue, but his curiosity is also roused, and Klaus likes to have his curiosity sated.

"How is that a beauty queen from small town Virginia has a sister that lived in Chicago ninety years ago?"

"Would you believe me if I said that my mother was older than she looked? No? Fine. She's from a different lifetime. Quite literally. And we don't get along. Apparently," Caroline looks stubbornly to the end of the hall. "What's taking Stefan so long?"

Caroline doesn't want to look at Klaus. She doesn't want him to see how uncomfortable she is talking to him about Alice, but she can't help but glance at him out of the corner of her eye. He is looking at her, and his gaze is intense. It's as if he's trying to see what's inside of her, and Caroline averts her eyes again, worried that if he manages to really look into them he'll see all the secrets she's been holding so tightly.

"I'll go and check," Klaus says after a beat, and Caroline keeps her eyes away from him as he brushes past her and enters the apartment.

"Look what I found," she hears Stefan say, and the pair exit shortly after, Stefan holding a full bottle of bourbon. He looks at Caroline and manages a half smile. "It's the good stuff."

Caroline grabs the bottle from him and opens it right there in the hall. She tips her head back and takes a large swig directly from the bottle.

"Yeah," Caroline agrees, her eyes watering a little as she swallows the alcohol. "Definitely the good stuff."

And that's how Caroline ends up sitting in Gloria`s with Stefan`s bourbon getting drunk with a Ripper and the original hybrid while a witch looks on with what can only be called disapproval.

"So, you're like a million," she says to Klaus after several shots. "What was the best decade?"

"I was very fond of the twenties," Klaus replies. "You would have liked it. The women were wild and reckless, they'd dance until they dropped."

"And I'm sure you had absolutely no hand in that," Caroline replied dryly, before turning her glassy gaze to Stefan. "And you?"

"The eighties," he replies immediately. "Lexi and I had some good times in the eighties. She compelled us backstage at a Bon Jovi concert once."

"Seriously?" Caroline laughs, not really believing this. "I thought Ripper Stefan was the life of the party, not bunny-diet Stefan."

"Lexi had that effect on me," Stefan replied. "She got me to go streaking through Trafalgar Square once. I almost got arrested."

Caroline almost spits out the shot she'd just taken at that. She's never seen _that_ Stefan. She kinda wishes she could meet him.

"And you, sweetheart?" Klaus asks. "Which of the three decades you've lived in have you liked best?"

"The 1340s," Caroline replies without thinking. "Right at the start of the Hundred Years War. All that blood and death? It was basically nirvana for me."

It takes Stefan freezing, then unfreezing in order to kick her leg, hard, under the table for the words she has just said to break through the haze of alcohol.

"Oh… shit," she says, blinking wide eyes at Klaus. "Forget that. It was the nineties. I had a total crush on all the guys in N'Sync."

"I don't think I will forget that," Klaus says slowly, removing his feet from where he'd rested them on the table. "Now, I know you weren't alive in the 1340s, because I looked into you quite closely after we made our little deal. An entire town would have had to be compelled in order for your age to be a lie. So… you had a sister in Chicago in the 1920s. And now you're claiming to have lived through the Hundred Years War. I feel you've been holding back on me."

Caroline sits in her seat, staring stonily past Klaus' shoulder, and meeting Gloria's eye. The witch is standing behind the bar, listening very closely to the conversation.

"Not here," she says, her eyes cutting to Klaus. "Unless, of course, Gloria wants to tell me how she knows Alice."

"Alice?" Stefan asks. "Is that your sister's name?"

But Caroline is already stalking across the bar. She halts in front of Gloria and holds up the picture.

"What am I, Gloria?" she asks.

"I don't know," Gloria replies. "I met Alice in the twenties. She was powerful, and charismatic, and you couldn't help but do what Alice asked you to. It wasn't compulsion, not like a vampire has. It was simply who she was. You have the same charisma about you. I bet you were always head of all the committees at your school. Always the leader."

"That has nothing to do with this," Caroline replies. "I was just a normal human girl until… until I wasn't. If I had these magical powers of charisma prior to that, I highly doubt _every_ guy I was ever attracted to would have chosen Elena instead."

"They would have sensed it. They probably didn't even realize it, but they were instinctually afraid of you. I bet no one questioned you more than once, not when you really wanted something. Just because you didn't have full control of your powers doesn't mean you were human, Caroline. It just means the powers were more subtle. They were still there."

Caroline stares at Gloria, but her mind is miles and years away. It is in Mystic Falls, remembering all the years prior to her ill-fated meeting with Katherine Pierce. Gloria was right, Caroline had always been the leader, she had always been in charge of _everything_, and if anyone questioned her, they only did it once. She remembered how catty she was, how she practically revelled in making the new girls on cheer squad cry, how there had been a tiny little part of her that rejoiced when Elena's perfect life had stopped being so perfect.

Even then, chaos and aggression had appealed to her. Had it been the voice all along, hidden away but trying to awaken? Trying to remind her what she was?

Caroline doesn't know the answers, but she knows someone who does.

"Where is Alice now?" she asks Gloria.

"I can't help you, Caroline," Gloria replies. "I haven't seen Alice since she left the city in the twenties, shortly after Klaus did."

That was suspicious. Alice had been Victor's loyal lackey for centuries… and her leaving so soon after Klaus made Caroline think that the Original siblings were the reason for Alice's presence in the first place.

"How long was she here?" Caroline asked.

"She arrived in 1917," Gloria replies. "She came with a pale man with dark hair. When the influenza hit, I thought a delicate thing like her would fall, but it never touched her. The man… he seemed to _enjoy_ it. He left once the worst of it had passed, thank God, but Alice stayed. She didn't leave for a few years. Not until after Klaus there left. Then she just disappeared. I guess she didn't want people getting suspicious of her never aging. That's all I know."

Caroline looks into Gloria's eyes, and steps away, believing her.

"I'm keeping this," she says, waving the photo.

"Was that informative for you, Love?" Klaus asks, appearing at her side.

"Hush for a second. I think I'm having an epiphany," Caroline replies. There was something in that story… the influenza and Victor, because that's who the pale man with Alice would have been. And God, why couldn't Caroline just _remember_.

"Anything?" Stefan asks after a long period of silence.

"No," Caroline says with a sigh. "There's something there, but it's like I'm looking at a broken mirror. I can see bits of a reflection, but I can't see the whole picture."

"I know the feeling," Stefan replies, and he glares stonily at Klaus past Caroline's shoulder.

"You know what," Caroline says looking between the two. "I think I should go get some air, clear my head, and let you two hash this thing out. Because Stefan needs to know stuff _I_ don't want to know. If someone attacks you," Caroline adds to Klaus dryly. "Be sure to scream really loud. I'll come save you."

Klaus smirks at Caroline, but motions Stefan back to the table.

"Shall we?"

Caroline heads for the door and exits Gloria's. She takes a deep, restorative breath of air and feels a little bad for throwing Stefan under the bus like that… but Caroline needs to think. She needs to think away from Klaus and Stefan and their questions.

Why was the influenza so important to Victor. There's something there, but Caroline feels like she's trying to hold water, and it just keeps slipping from her fingers when she thinks she's finally grasped the answer. Caroline looks at the picture once more, and she wonders where Alice is now. She feels a compulsion to find her, much as she feels the compulsion to find Marik. They are Caroline's people. They are like her. The only ones like her.

"Care?" a voice says, interrupting Caroline's reverie. Caroline spins around. It is Elena, Damon at her side.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Caroline demands, glancing back at the bar, hoping that Klaus hasn't heard them. "Damon, why did you bring her here?"

"She wouldn't take no for an answer," Damon replies, his voice dry. "I thought about letting her come on her lonesome, but she'd just get herself killed."

"She might anyways," Caroline snarls. "Go home, Elena."

"No. Not without you and Stefan," Elena replies, stubborn to the bitter end.

"We can't come, Elena," Caroline says. "I'm sworn to Klaus' side unless he kills you. And Stefan… Stefan isn't in any shape to go with you."

"I'll help him get back to himself," Elena states. "And Bonnie is figuring out a way to get you out of the blood bond. It will work."

"Not happening," Caroline says. "And what you're doing right now is cruel."

"Wh-what?" Elena stutters, clearly surprised by Caroline's harshness.

"I gave up my life, my home, so you could keep yours. Stefan gave up his life to make sure Damon kept his. And it's cruel that you keep following us and reminding us what we lost. We know, Elena. We don't need the constant reminder, because we remember all on our own."

"Caroline," Damon begins, his voice a warning, but Caroline cuts a hard glance in his direction, allowing for one second for him to see her purpose in her eyes.

She needs Elena to leave. She needs Elena to forget about them. If she doesn't, she'll end up dead. And yes, Caroline would be free, but she doesn't want to be if it means Elena is dead.

"You don't mean that, Caroline," Elena says, her voice soothing.

"I do, actually. I'm not the girl I was two months ago, Elena. You… you don't see the things I've seen, and do the things I've done and remain the same. Stefan isn't the same either, and he won't be for a long time. Let us put in our time without the constant reminder of what we've lost. Let us… let us push it away, and forget. And live. That's why I did what I did. So you could live."

"I never asked that!" Elena says, her voice an angry hiss. "I'm sick of people sacrificing themselves for me. I never wanted you to! And I never asked John to! But no one ever asks me what I want."

"You were there for me," Caroline interrupts. "You and Stefan. You were the only ones who were there for me from the very start, after Katherine smothered me and I woke up as this. I know you never asked me to do this, Elena, but you didn't have to. It was something I was willing to do, if it meant you got to live a full life. Because I'll never get that. I'm not human. I won't get the perfect white wedding and the 2.5 kids and the white picket fence. But you can have it all. You can live for the both of us. And that's what I'm asking you to do. Please, Elena. Live the life I can't have anymore. For both of us."

Caroline's eyes are filled with tears by the time she's done her monologue. And she knows it's probably cheesy and cliché, but she means ever word. And Elena is crying, too, and then she's hugging Caroline and their one teary mess of limbs.

"I'm sorry this happened to you, Care," Elena says.

"I'm sorry I'll never get that white picket fence," Caroline replies. She wants to add that she's not sorry for becoming what she has become, that she is a better friend and a better person for it, but Elena wouldn't understand. Not yet. Despite her experiences with the supernatural, Elena doesn't understand that sometimes transition brings out the best in a person. Elena still views humanity as the pinnacle of virtue and goodness, but Caroline knows better.

Human Caroline was shallow, she was trying to change, but it was slow. Transitioned Caroline had to grow and adapt so much faster. She had to become stronger, and she had to learn empathy, or else lose herself all together. She wishes she could explain this to Elena, but it's far too complicated.

Instead, she settles for simple.

"Good-bye, Elena," Caroline says, and it feels like she's saying good-bye to her childhood, to a Caroline who was care-free and innocent of the darkness in the world. She needed this, Caroline realizes. She needed to say one last good-bye to the old her, especially now, with the picture in her hand that proves that the voice isn't just some sort of psychological defect that came with her transition. The voice is real, Alice is real, and Marik is real.

That means Victor is real, too, but Caroline prefers not to think too hard about him.

"I think we can maybe get Elena a couple of seconds with Stefan," Caroline says to Damon. "But you'll have to be willing to take some pain."

Damon looks at her, and Caroline meets his eyes squarely. _For closure_, she tries to communicate to him. Elena and Stefan both need it, and maybe this will remind Stefan that some things are worth fighting for. Perhaps it will give him the push he needs to try and curtail his Ripper binge.

"Try and convince him to be gentle with me," Damon replies dryly, and Caroline gives a little smirk.

Together, the two of them enter the Dragon's Den.

(CWM)

Klaus is amused by Damon's presence.

Caroline keeps to the back of the bar, ready to step in should it appear that Klaus is actually going to kill him, but keeping her distance otherwise. Stefan has already disappeared out the door, taking his chance to leave while Damon attempted to make small talk with the Hybrid.

"You know," Klaus comments idly after a particularly snarky comment from Damon. "I once promised your brother I wouldn't kill you. I never promised Caroline wouldn't."

"I swore to protect you, not to kill for you," Caroline says automatically. She knows Klaus isn't serious, as he is very much aware of what Caroline's limits are. He has to be, in order to try and push her over them, after all.

"You know, I'd make you a much better companion than Stefan," Damon says, ignoring the threat of his death all together. "I'm the fun, brother. Aren't I, Barbie?"

"Actually, you were pretty crappy, Damon," Caroline replies with rolled eyes. "I don't recall having much fun at all."

Damon winces at the rebuke in both her eyes and her voice. Before Caroline had left with Klaus, she had come to understand Damon, and she trusts him to keep everyone back home safe, but that doesn't mean she has forgiven or forgotten the abuse she suffered at his hands. Her voice lets him know jokes about it won't be tolerated.

Klaus catches the tension in the air, and he looks at Damon with narrowed eyes.

"Now, this is interesting, Damon. You obviously have history with my lovely companion, but judging by Caroline's reaction it's not a pleasant one. What did you do to her?"

Damon suddenly looks nervous, and he looks to Caroline for help. She sighs and joins the pair at the bar.

"It was a long time ago," Caroline says to Klaus, though it's a lie. It was less than a year ago, and Caroline can still remember the fear, she still bears the scars. "Damon's… become somewhat tolerable since. It's… to be honest, Klaus, my history with Damon really isn't your business," Caroline finally states, choosing to go the blunt fashion. "It's between us, and he knows what I think about it. I made it pretty clear when I first changed."

Klaus looks at Caroline in the steady, measuring way of his that makes her feel as though he's staring right to the heart of her, and she shifts uncomfortably.

"Hmmm... you'll have to explain it to me, someday, this history of yours," Klaus replies. "But until then, Mr. Salvatore is getting on my nerves. Since I can't use your history as an excuse for this, I'll just have to claim boredom."

That said, Klaus throws Damon across the room, and is on him with a broken stool leg the moment he lands. Caroline curses and follows right behind, catching Klaus' wrist in her hand right before he impales Damon's chest with the makeshift stake. Klaus' eyes glow unnatural amber as he growls at Caroline for ruining his fun, and Caroline's glow silver as she glares right back at him. The battle of wills comes to a halt, however, when the stake suddenly lights on fire, burning Klaus' hand. He curses and tosses it aside, and turns to the bar where Goria has made a reappearance. Caroline curses as she feels the burn in her own hand and clutches it to her chest.

"If you want to fight, take it outside," the witch says. "I'm working."

Klaus snarls, but turns back to Damon.

"I want you gone from this city tonight. If you remain here past midnight, I will find you and I will kill you. Don't think about your brother again, Damon. By the time I'm through with him, he won't want to return to your small town life."

Damon looks ready to say yet another smart ass remark, but Caroline hauls him up with her healed hand and drags him to the door.

"Go home," she hisses at him. "Take care of what's left. You're no good to anyone dead."

Damon obviously wants to remain, but one look over her shoulder at Klaus sends him out the door to collect Elena. Once Damon is gone, Caroline hears Gloria retreat back into her office. Caroline sighs in relief and turns around to face Klaus. He is right behind her, barely an inch separating them. Caroline jumps and beings to step back, but Klaus grasps her wrist and pulls her into him. He lifts the limb up so he can look at her palm. It is the one that burnt when he was burnt by the flaming stake. There is a barely restrained rage in him, yet his touch is soft as he looks at her hand.

"You're reckless," Caroline tells him, and his eyes snap to hers. "You're reckless, and impetuous, and it's going to get us both killed."

"I'm the Hybrid, Love," Klaus replies, dropping her wrist and stepping away. "I'm invincible. Something that should make your job, _which is keeping me alive_, that much easier."

"I can't be everywhere, Klaus, and I don't know how you think, so it's not like I can anticipate your next move. One of these days, you're going to kill someone you shouldn't, or threaten a witch with nothing left to lose, and it won't just be you who suffers!"

Caroline knows it's foolish to attack him right now, verbally or otherwise, but she feels like being a little reckless herself. The discovery of her sister's picture, the revelation of Stefan's past with Klaus, the face-to-face with Elena, even reliving her past with Damon, it's left Caroline on edge, and she wants to get the emotion churning inside of her out. Klaus is there, Klaus is a convenient, albeit foolish, target. Klaus is in her face once more, but this time there is no gentleness in the grip he gains on her arm. It is unyielding and painful, and Caroline has to bite back a groan of pain as his fingers dig in.

"Do you have a death wish, Caroline? Is that why you cross me like this? If I want Damon Salvatore dead, next time you'd best let me kill him. Otherwise I may decide you're not nearly as interesting as I first thought. What is your history with him? Why would you risk my wrath for him?"

"I had sex with him," Caroline snarls. "I was human, and compelled to be his blood bag, but hell, the boy could do amazing things with his tongue. Is that what you were expecting to hear?"

"Did you love him?"

"What part of 'compelled' did you miss? I wasn't capable of loving him because I wasn't in control of myself. Why does it matter to you?"

"Because you belong to me, Caroline," Klaus growls, pulling her in tight to his body. "I bought and paid for you, remember?"

"You bought and paid for my abilities. I'm still master of my own actions, you ass!"

Klaus growls again, and Caroline can feel his chest vibrate. For a second, she thinks that he's going to kill her, that she's finally pushed him too far. She knew it would happen, she just thought he would send her away when it did. But no, she's pushed him beyond even that, and now she's dead.

Except then his mouth is sealed over hers and his tongue is forcing its way into her mouth, and suddenly Caroline is kissing Klaus. It's violent. A battle of teeth and tongues, and she's pretty sure her claws are drawing blood from where they're embedded in his shoulders. She can feel the claws dig into her own skin, but it just seems to heighten the experience. She knows that this is wrong, but it feels so damn good. She pushes him, so his back slams into the wall and tries to take control of the kiss, moving her hands so her claws are no longer in his back, but instead her fingers are tangled in his hair, which she jerks roughly.

Klaus doesn't like having control wrested from him, and he reverses their positions, so it's Caroline's back to the wall. He grabs her legs and lifts her, so they wrap around his waist and she's just where he wants her, grinding on his erection. Caroline hisses, and breaks away from the kiss so she can throw her head back at the feeling of contact. It's been far too long since she's felt like this, not since she was human, and everything seems so much stronger now. As if every touch is magnified.

"Oh God," she groans as Klaus scrapes his fangs on her neck, not breaking skin, but making her feel so damn good.

"Not God, Love, just Klaus," he replies, and he spins them around so her ass can rest on one of the tables. He dives in, to claim her mouth again and Caroline meets him hungrily, still rubbing against him eagerly.

She is thinking that there are far too many articles of clothing between them, when a splash of cold water hits her in the form of an angry, "what the hell, Caroline!" from Stefan.

"Bad timing, Stefan," Klaus says, even as Caroline pushes wildly away from him. She feels the table tilt back, and she lands with a hard thud on her back, but she welcomes the shock of the contact. It's like an additional splash of water, eliminating any remaining heat from… whatever the hell it is that just happened between her and Klaus.

"No, it's not," Caroline replies, pulling herself to her feet using another table. "It's actually flawless timing. Spectacular timing. You know, it's been a while since you undaggered Rebekah. Shouldn't she be up and about by now? Maybe we should go get her, and we can hear her view on the '20s and the things she did with Stefan. You know, back when you were macking on an Original and all which gives you absolutely no. Room. To. Judge." The finally words are said slowly, with emphasis, so Stefan can be absolutely certain that Caroline will accept no judgement from him, or pass any judgement on him. At least not in regards to the macking on Originals thing.

"Of course, Sweetheart. By all means, lead the way," Klaus says, motioning for her to precede him out of the bar. He is wearing a smug smirk and has an avid gleam in his eyes. A gleam that suggests he plans on picking up where he left off as soon as possible. Caroline wants to rant and rail against him, and tell him that it's never gonna happen, but she just purses her lips and makes sure that Stefan is between them as they leave the bar.

She much prefers the severe, _we will talk about this later_ look that Stefan gives her to Klaus' knowing, _we will continue this later_ look. The former reminds her of all the reasons she should ignore the latter.

Something that will be hard to do, with the feeling of Klaus' mouth still branded on her own.

_**AN: So, Gloria knew Alice. And now Klaus knows that there is more to Caroline than meets the eye. But our bubbly blonde has always been good at distractions, so she managed to escape the third degree. Today. Thanks in part to Damon.**_

_**As for the Klaus/Caroline kiss… yeah, emotions can be a bitch when you're immortal. **_

_**There were a couple of hints there about the identities of the four. Remember, I welcome guesses.**_

_**Next chapter will be entitled "**_**Femme Fatales**_**". I will also welcome guesses as to who that refers to. Note that it is plural.**_

_**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, and please drop me a note on this one as well. **_

_**As this chapter was both longer than usual and updated unusually quickly (for me), it will probably be at least a week before I post the next one.**_


	23. Femme Fatales

**AN: And here we are. Introducing two different confrontations. Caroline vs. Rebekah and Caroline vs. … well, you'll have to read and see.**

**Four. Femme Fatales**

"I feel like I walked into a very bad horror movie," Caroline says as she and her two companions walk through the warehouse where they had left Rebekah. It is dark and eerie, and Caroline is pretty sure that every scary movie in the history of forever has taught her that this is a bad situation to be in.

"Well, you know which female always gets killed first," Stefan replies dryly, and Caroline glares to her side where he is walking next to her.

"A slut joke? So not classy, Stefan. And judgey. Remember what I said about judginess from you?"

"Yes, Stefan, no judging allowed. Besides, what did Caroline do that was wrong? You should really be thanking her. I was rather looking forward to killing your brother. Damon is lucky that Caroline was so very much more tempting," Klaus pipes in jovially from where he walks behind them. He has been nothing but amused by the tension between Stefan and Caroline, and acts as if he has not a care in the world. "Ah, little sister has gone missing. Come out, Rebekah. I'm not up to a game tonight."

"Because that's the best way to talk to a girl you've had daggered for the past ninety years," Caroline says with a sigh. "Hell hath no fury, Klaus."

"We had a spat. She put in her time. She'll get over it," Klaus replies. "Bekah, where are you, Love?"

A flash of blonde and red moves for Klaus, and Caroline intercepts it a foot before it reaches its target. It's Rebekah, and she's shoved the dagger that had once been in her chest into Caroline's gut.

"Well, shit," Caroline says, looking down at the blood that is spreading out from the wound.

"You shouldn't have gotten in my way," Rebekah snarls. "Collateral damage."

"You stabbed me," Caroline says, ignoring Rebekah's comments. "Like, actually stabbed me. I've never been stabbed before. It hurts." Caroline reaches down and pulls the dagger out of her body, hissing as a rush of blood follows the removal. "You bitch."

And she puts the dagger right back into Rebekah's chest.

"Well," muses Klaus. "That wasn't quite what I had expected."

It takes fifteen minutes for Caroline to heal and Rebekah to revive once more. The shorter time before daggering and dagger removal means Rebekah wakens much faster. It's obvious from the start that the two blondes are not going to get along.

"You bitch," Rebekah growls as she comes awake with a gasp. "You daggered me!"

"Well, you stabbed me," Caroline snaps right back. "I liked this shirt. It was cute and comfortable, and made my boobs look amazing. Do you know how hard it is to find a shirt that fits all three of those categories?"

"It made you look like a whore," Rebekah replies. "No self-respecting woman shows that much skin outside the bedroom."

"Welcome to the twenty-first century, _Bekah_. Where women are allowed to dress how they want and even, god forbid, have a _job_. If I want to go out in my bra and panties, I can. Hell, I have. It's called a bikini." Caroline crosses her arms and scowls darkly. "God, I hate slut shamers. They are basically the worst. "

"Why did you bring your little play toy here, Nik?" Rebekah asks angrily, turning away from Caroline to her brother. "Haven't you done enough to me without forcing me to tolerate your little whore?"

"I'm not his whore!" Caroline snaps.

At the same time, Klaus replies, "be nice to Caroline, dear. She has unique abilities that even you should hesitate to awaken. You saw how fast she moved. How strong she is. She's quite spectacular when angered."

"I don't care. I wanted to stab you, and she ruined it."

"It wouldn't have done anything," Caroline points out.

"Then why did you stop it?" Rebekah snaps back, turning to face Caroline once more.

"I had to," Caroline replies with a shrug. "I'm his indentured bodyguard. I'd be doing a pretty crappy job if I let you stab him. Even if it would be amusing."

"Well, if the two of you are quite done, I've brought Bekah a gift that I think might make up for my transgression. Stefan, mate, don't be so shy back there."

Stefan had been watching from the background as Caroline and Rebekah fought, but now he steps forward so Rebekah can see him clearly.

"Stefan…" Rebekah whispers, and there is such longing in her face that it almost takes Caroline's breath away. This girl really loved her friend once, and Caroline knows it will break Rebekah's heart when she finds out Stefan has no memories of her.

"I… I don't remember you," Stefan admits, keeping his distance from the blonde original. "I'm sorry, but I just don't."

"Nik," Rebekah says, and her voice is dangerous, her eyes steely.

"Allow me, Bekah," Klaus says, and he grasps Stefan by the shoulders and looks into his eyes. Stefans' pupils dilate and Klaus begins to speak. "You remember. You remember Rebekah, and me, and all our time spent together in the twenties."

Klaus releases Stefan, who steps back and blinks, and gives his head a sharp shake, as if he's confused.

"We were like brothers," he says to Klaus, and his voice is filled with something close to awe. Then Stefan turns to Rebekah. "And you… you were really something."

"Stefan!" Rebekah says with a bright smile, throwing herself into his arms. Stefan wraps them around her, but he meets Caroline's gaze over the other blonde's head, and Caroline sees that he is torn in two directions.

On the one hand, he is remembering all these things he felt for Rebekah. Rebekah, who is there and in his arms and so very solid.

But Stefan still loves Elena. Caroline doesn't know what happened between them earlier, but it is clear that his love for the doppleganger has not faded.

Stefan loved Rebekah ninety years ago, but it is Elena he loves now.

"This is going to get messy," Caroline says, but no one is paying attention to her.

Rebekah doesn't have the necklace.

She goes into full on panic mode, and Klaus throws a bitch fit.

Caroline takes advantage of the distraction to send Stefan out of the warehouse, because someone needs to explain that ninety years has passed to Rebekah, and that she can't just hop back into Stefan's bed like nothing has changed. Caroline figures her chances of surviving the explanation are marginally higher than Stefan's.

But there will be no explanations while the two siblings are screaming bloody murder at each other. Caroline was head cheerleader, and in charge of every major committee run in Mystic Falls. She knows how to take control of a situation. She starts by putting her fingers in her mouth and giving her loudest whistle.

It catches Klaus and Rebekah's attention, and they both stop yelling to stare at her.

"Okay, so the necklace is gone. How long did you own it, Rebekah?" Caroline asks.

"Nearly a thousand years, though I don't see why that's any of your business."

"A thousand years?" Caroline repeats, ignoring the insult rife in Rebekah's voice. "That's great. That means you'll have a connection to it, right? Now, I don't know much about all that witchy stuff, but maybe Gloria can help us find it?"

"Ah, beauty, brawn _and_ brains. Is it any wonder that I keep you around?" Klaus asks with a smirk. "Now, where's Stefan? We'll just be on our way to Gloria's."

"Stefan's waiting outside, because someone needs to explain to your sister that since she's been daggered, he fell in love with someone else. Someone he is still hung up on. So try not to attempt to jump his bones, okay? The guy is confused. As for Gloria's… she's still human. And like any sane human, Gloria needs sleep. She'll still be there to find the necklace in the morning." Caroline looks Rebekah up and down and frowns. "Or maybe afternoon. Your sister really needs a wardrobe update asap."

"Who made you the boss?" Rebekah demands. "I'm dressed far more fashionably than you."

"Hardly," Caroline snorts. "I'm covered in blood, and I'd get fewer stares than you on the street, because my outfit _isn't_ ninety years out of date. This is how females dress now, Rebekah. Get used to, and be happy I _am_ here. Do you really think your brother and _Stefan_ would be any help getting you new clothes? I honestly think Stefan might shop at goodwill sometimes."

Rebekah considers Caroline's words and finally nods her assent.

"I still don't like you," she says, as if she's worried Caroline might take this as a sign that they're BFFs. Caroline hasn't. "But you're right. Nik probably didn't even think about me needing clothes, so I suppose your presence won't hurt."

"I would like a say," Klaus interrupts. "A wardrobe can wait."

Rebekah and Caroline look at each other, united for a moment in their exasperation over Klaus' complete lack of priorities. Their shared gaze says it all.

_Boys_.

Rebekah shopping is almost enough to exhaust even Caroline, who takes pride in her marathon shopping abilities. The Original feels the need to try on everything; jeans, t-shirts, skirts, dresses, tank tops, and she demands Caroline's opinion on each and every outfit.

Caroline was right about Stefan and Klaus, of course. They sit sprawled in chairs, sipping champagne that only obscene amounts of money can purchase in store and watch with bored eyes as Rebekah parades out in outfit after outfit. After a while, Stefan actually disappears, leaving Caroline to deal with the two Originals alone.

And those two? They have the maturity level of a pair of five year olds on the playground.

Honestly, they've begun a cycle. Klaus pricks at Rebekah while Caroline tries to get him to stop, but then Rebekah destroys something and Caroline has to convince one of the siblings to put their fight on hold so one of them can compel the humans in the store. It's giving Caroline a headache, and she finally has to admit defeat.

"That's it!" she declares standing from the chair where she had been making a valiant attempt to get drunk from Klaus' discarded champagne. "I've had enough of the sibling war. I'm going to go find Stefan, and the two of you can just… ugh!"

Caroline stomps out of the store, the sound of Klaus' laughter and Rebekah's angry demands for her to return following her. Once out the door, Caroline takes a deep, bracing breath of fresh air and looks around, hoping for a sign pointing her in Stefan's direction. There is no sign of his messy auburn hair, and Caroline sighs and picks a direction at random.

She comes up short when her eye catches that of a girl on the opposite side of the street. People move around the girl, subconsciously keeping their distance, as if they can sense that she is different and dangerous. Caroline notes absent mindedly that, now that she's come to a stop, people on her side of the street are doing the same. It makes sense, after all, Alice is her sister. They both have that aura of the unnatural to them.

Alice quirks her head, then turns around and begins to move down another street. Caroline reacts instantly. She doesn't care if people see what she's doing; she needs to catch up to Alice. Alice has all the answers Caroline seeks, so Caroline dodges cars and shoves pedestrians out of her way in her quest to find Alice.

Caroline reaches the point where Alice had been standing, and she stares down the street she had disappeared down. Several feet away, Caroline can see a flash of red disappear to the right, so she follows it. Her hunt takes her to an alley, empty except for Alice, who is leaning against the cement wall of the dead end.

"We heard rumors that Marik had successfully wiped out Morgan's line," Alice says, without preamble. "Though we didn't believe it. An entire witch's line destroyed? That's a near impossible feat. It's no wonder it took Marik close to six hundred years to complete it."

"Alice," Caroline says, and then she stops. Now that she sees this girl in front of her, she doesn't know how to continue. Alice is her sister, yet she's not, just as Caroline and the voice are both the same yet not the same. Caroline has memories of times with Alice, good and bad, but they belong to the Voice, they are not something Caroline identifies with. Alice looks similar to the picture from Gloria's that Caroline still carries. She's dressed in jeans and a tank top rather than a flapper dress, and her hair is long now, almost as long as Caroline's in fact, but it is still clearly Alice. But she is far more vibrant in person than in the black and white of the picture.

"Is that all you have to say to your sister, Caroline?" Alice asks, a smirk crossing her lips. "Six hundred years, and there's nothing else? The last time we spoke, you called me weak for following Victor… yet it was you who fell victim to the witch's curse."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to say," Caroline admits. "If I'm supposed to hug you, or stab you, or try to rip your head off."

Alice's brow furrows, and she looks at Caroline in confusion. After a few moments, the confusion clears and Alice laughs, it's a laugh that is pure and almost musical, and it lights up Alice's whole face.

"This is precious!" she says, the words at odds with the innocence of her laugh. "He hasn't killed all the witches yet, because you're not… you. Oh, how that must annoy you, Sister." The words are said to Caroline, but Caroline can tell that they are really addressed to the voice, who is stirring, as if rising to the challenge of the words. "Trapped within a mortal's body. Weak and helpless. Oh, that must irritate you so."

Caroline moves, but it's not her controlling the body. It is the voice, something that has not happened since Caroline first confronted Damon after her transition. Caroline's hand wraps around Alice's neck and presses her into the wall.

"Be careful, sister. I was always the better fighter, and Caroline isn't mortal. Not anymore."

"But she's not one of us. Not completely," Alice fires back, and her hands come up and dig claws, just like the ones on Caroline's own fingers, into the back of Caroline's wrist. Pain, hot and sharp, flashes from the point of connection and Caroline rears back. She glances down at the wounds. They are slow to heal, and there is a sickly yellow liquid coming from them.

_Poison_, says the voice. _It can't kill us… but Alice is right. We're not at full strength yet. We need to get away_.

Caroline doesn't want to leave, she wants answers, but the look in Alice eyes is dangerous, and she has clearly noticed that her poison is affecting Caroline, and it amuses her. Caroline lets out a hiss, but quickly turns, planning on getting the hell out of dodge before a fight really starts.

Her escape is blocked by nightmares.

The creatures are half man and half beast, and pieces of them almost seems to be rotting. Their eyes are a sickly yellow color, as is the drool that drips from their jaws. It's the same color as Alice's poison.

_Wendigos_, the voice explains, at the same time Alice says, "You remember my wendigos, don't you sister dear? We're going to have so much fun."

"You can't kill me," Caroline says, turning to Alice. "I may not be at full strength, but I'm too close for you to kill me, and you're no witch who can curse me again. So what's the point of this?"

"You're right. I can't hurt you," Alice agrees, far too good-naturedly. "I can't hurt you, but I can hurt you. Where are your Valkyries, Caroline? You always took so much pride in their strength, in their ability to overpower my beasts… yet now they've abandoned you. Just like you abandoned _me_."

The three beasts fly at Caroline. They are fast, but Caroline is faster, and she manages to break the neck of one and throw it at one of its brethren. The third takes advantage of Caroline's distraction, though, and digs its teeth into her neck. Caroline shrieks, and it's her supersonic scream. The wendigo at her neck stumbles away from her, but Alice didn't come armed with only three Wendigos.

There are at least a dozen more, and each of them obeys only Alice. Alice, who leans against the wall as if she has not a care in the world.

"That's a bad bite," Alice notes. "It's taking a while to heal. That'll slow you down. That's a real pity for you, because my pets haven't had a good meal in a while."

"That is too bad," Caroline agrees, glaring at Alice. "A real pity they won't be getting one today, either."

Alice's eyes narrow at Caroline's words, and she waves at her wendigos to attack. Caroline's gaze doesn't leave Alice's as she opens herself up to her powers. Chicago is a big city, it's full of pain, hatred, anger, all those emotions that Caroline feeds on. And now they fill her. Wendigoes snap at Caroline, only to be electrocuted. They try to bite into her limbs, her neck, and Caroline laughs and reaches into their chests and pulls out their hearts. Caroline is glorious and unstoppable, and if she gets a few more bites during the fight, well, Caroline doesn't feel them. She only feels power.

When the last Wendigo is dropped, heartless, at Caroline's feet, she turns back to Alice. The red head no longer looks so careless. Instead, her knees are bent, and her arms hang tensed at her sides; this is a girl prepared for a fight.

"Your pets are still mindless, Little Sister. You should do something about that."

"And you're still not fully one of us, Caroline," Alice sneers back. "Do you even know _what_ you are? Or have you been wandering around unleashing your powers like that everywhere? I won't have to do anything to you if you continue on like this, you'll get yourself locked away once more all on your lonesome. And poor, poor Marik will still be all alone."

"Where is he?" Caroline demands. "Where is Marik?"

"I'm not his keeper," Alice replies. "Nor am I yours, but I will give you a gift this once, sister mine."

Alice moves rapidly, even faster than what Caroline is capable of. She is at Caroline's back, and she speaks in a low, dangerous voice.

"Learn what you are, Caroline, or it will destroy you."

Then, Alice's claws slash across Caroline's throat. It is bloody, and messy, and Caroline knows no more.

**AN: So, we meet Alice. And her wendigos. Look up wendigos on Wikipedia if you want further information on what the four are.**

**Now, I'm working on chapter 6 right now, and I'm a little hung up. I didn't want to post this until that was finished, but considering that I just trashed 2000+ words, I figured that probably wasn't going to happen.**

**Also, I'm working on another story. It's called "Still Doll" and will also be Klaroline.**

_**Silas decided to break her. So she cracked like glass beneath his fists. Now, with Caroline unable to feel and unwilling to listen to her friends, it will be up to Klaus to put her back together before Silas successfully mould her into his dark queen.**_

**It's a working summary, but it should be posted at the same time as this chapter, so go check it out!**


	24. Turning Point

**AN: Still struggling with six, but I figured if I waited until I finished it, you guys might be waiting a while. So enjoy five, and let's all hope that I get inspiration to get over the hump soon. I want to get to the fun stuff I have planned…**

**Five. Turning Point**

Caroline comes to and she's being carried in Stefan's arms.

"Haven't we been here before?" she asks him, and her voice croaks, because her throat is still healing thanks to Alice's poison. They are moving down a hallway, and Caroline recognizes it as the building where Stefan lived back when he enjoyed being a Ripper.

"I imagine we will be again," Stefan replies with a weak grin down at her. "You're too reckless."

It's like an echo of Caroline's words to Klaus the previous night, and Caroline wants to scowl, except she knows Stefan is right.

"It's difficult to really care these days," Caroline admits to him. "I met Alice."

"The girl from the picture. Your sister," Stefan clarifies. "Did she do this to you?"

"Some of it. The bites are from her little pet Wendigos. You can put me down, Stef. I can walk again." Caroline is silent until her feet hit the ground, then she speaks once more. "I'm confused, Stefan. She has the answers, all of them, but she won't talk to me. The voice has given me what it can. I need one of them to answer the rest of the questions."

"Them. As in plural. So you have more than one sister? Exactly how much have you _not_ been telling me, Care?" Stefan demands, opening the door to his old apartment and letting Caroline enter.

"So much, and nothing at the same time," Caroline says, taking one of the old chairs at the bare kitchen table. She runs her fingers through her hair. "There are four of us. Me, Alice, Marik, and Victor. We're old, Stef. As in older than the Originals old. Marik… I was always on Marik's side. And Alice was always on Victor's side. And those two sides? They were never the same. Marik created the spell that made the Originals."

"Woah, wait. So you, or the voice, or whatever the hell you wanna call it, you _knew_ the Originals? Is that how you knew about the bloodlines?"

"I remembered the spell," Caroline explains with a shrug. "The bloodlines were Marik's fail safe, so he could destroy his creations if he felt they didn't live up to his expectations. He created them because Victor had created the werewolf lines, and Marik was never one to take second place to Victor. So, the spell was created, and then the Originals were chosen as the test subjects because they were in a weakened emotional state. It was easy to manipulate them into performing the spell."

"Care, do you realize how crazy this all sounds? I _know_ you. You're seventeen, and a cheerleader, and you've lived your whole life in Mystic Falls… and now you're talking as if you were around one thousand years ago."

"I was Stefan." Caroline meets Stefan's gaze head on. "I was there when the Originals were made. I was there long before that. Then I was locked away, and so I've forgotten it all, and that makes me dangerous. Alice is right. If I don't figure out what I am… I have to go. I have to find Marik. He's the only one who will be able _and_ willing to help me."

"You said you can't break the Blood Oath," Stefan points out. "How can you leave Klaus if you can't break the oath?"

"I need to ensure that he'll be protected while I'm gone," Caroline replies. "That's the only way… Stefan, I need to get to those coffins. Elijah will make a deal with me."

"Haven't you made enough deals with Originals?" Stefan demands. "That's what got you here to begin with."

"Elijah is honorable, and he likes me. And more than that, I'll be the one holding the dagger. It won't be a repeat of Klaus, because I'll be the one with the power. I'm doing this either way, but I need you to keep Klaus and Rebekah away from that warehouse."

"I can't help you, Care." Stefan looked away, his expression guilty. "Earlier, when I left the store, it was because I saw Katherine. Klaus is running from something, Care. From _someone_. Katherine thinks she can figure out who it is, and we can use him against Klaus. We can be free… but releasing Elijah? He'd be on Klaus' side."

Caroline stared at Stefan for a long moment. A way to be free? It was too good to be true.

_Snap his neck_.

The compulsion hit her hard and suddenly, like a punch straight to the gut.

_Stop him. Now. _

At first Caroline was confused, even as she felt her hands begin to lift and move towards Stefan's neck. Stefan just managed to dodge her attempt to snap his neck in half.

"Jesus, Caroline. What are you doing?" Stefan demanded, putting the sofa between them.

"I… I don't… oh, crap. It's the blood oath, Stef. You're planning on harming Klaus. And I can't let you do that."

"What? This hasn't happened before, though. Has it?"

"I've never known about an attack beforehand, so no, it hasn't," Caroline replied, and then she swung at Stefan with her claws. Stefan once again just managed to dodge the blow.

"Fight it, Care," Stefan told her. "It's our chance at freedom."

"You're really not helping, Stefan!" Caroline snapped, moving to block him as Stefan tried to make a run for the door. "I can't stop it."

"Try!" Stefan demanded.

Caroline's reply was a guttural snarl. Her eyes flashed between silver and their regular hazel colour, as if beast and human were battling for dominance within her.

"Get. Out," she growled, managing to dig her claws into her leg. The pain gave her some control over the compulsion, and Stefan took the chance to flash out the door.

He makes it to the apartment building's exit and practically smells freedom, when Caroline catches him. He swore and fought her grip, but Caroline fought harder. Her eyes were completely silver, and her thoughts were overcome with the compulsion to stop Stefan from causing Klaus harm.

It takes all of Caroline's control to merely snap Stefan's neck rather than ripping out his heart.

The voice tells her to consider that much control a victory. Caroline tells it to fuck off and looks at Stefan's limp body. He's out of commission for now and so the compulsion to stop him has come to an end. Caroline wonders what she should do now, and decides that the best course of action is to get a cab to the warehouse and undagger Elijah. Then this will be his problem.

Caroline doesn't like leaving Stefan behind, but she's ninety percent sure that if she stays to see Stefan awaken the compulsion to stop him where he stands will come right back. That can't happen if she's not present, so for now she'll leave and give Stefan a fighting chance to pull off whatever it is he and Katherine plan on pulling off.

It's while Caroline is sitting in the cab that she hears it.

_"Two bank robberies and four reports of aggravated assault all reported within twenty minutes of each other."_

"Hey, can you turn that up?" Caroline asks, leaning forward so the cabbie will hear her. He shrugs and cranks up the volume.

_"Are there any explanations for this sudden spike in violence? Are these incidents related at all, Jill?"_

_ "Current reports from the Chicago PD say no. They also say not worry, and that no more incidents have happened since those reports were made. It seems like it was probably just one of those weird moments in time. It will, however, go down as the most violent twenty minutes in Chicago's history."_

_ "You heard it here, folks. Mark it down; 11: 35 to 11:55, Chicago's most violent twenty minutes. Let's hope the record is never beat."_

"Some people," the cabbie says shaking his head. "You just never know what they're gonna do."

"Yeah," Caroline agrees with a weak smile. "Some people."

_"Learn what you are, Caroline, or it will destroy you."_

(CWM)

Caroline is sitting next to Elijah's coffin, waiting for him to awaken when Klaus and Rebekah make their appearance, dragging Stefan with them.

"Ah, here you are, Caroline," Klaus says, and while his voice is jovial, the dangerous glint in his eyes as he looks at the dagger in her hands tells a very different story. "Betraying me? And here I thought the oath you took would prevent that."

"It does," Caroline replies, not bothering to move from her spot. It's too comfortable sitting on the ground and leaning back against the stand that holds Elijah's coffin. "But I need to take a sabbatical, and Elijah is the only one I trust to keep you alive while I can't."

"You mean the brother who planned to kill me?" Klaus asks mockingly. "That's who you trust to keep me alive? Put the dagger back in, Caroline."

"It's too late for that, Niklaus," Elijah interrupts, and Caroline looks up to see that the elder Original is sitting up in the coffin. It's unfair, she thinks, that he manages to look so good after being daggered for weeks. "Hello, Caroline."

"Hi, Elijah," Caroline replies wearily. "Guess what?"

Elijah quirks a brow, but apparently decides to play along.

"What?"

"It turns out that I have the ability to make people rob banks and try to kill each other. Go me, right?"

In a heartbeat, Elijah is out of the coffin and dusting of his suit.

"That's interesting. I imagine it's an interesting story, how you found that out," he says. "But first, there's something I really must do."

Caroline guesses what that "something" is, and she's grabbed Elijah's fist in her palm just centimeters from Klaus's face. Or where Klaus's face would have been, if he hadn't moved back three feet.

"I don't want a black eye," Caroline tells Elijah bluntly. "And that's what I'd get if you punched him. You should listen to my story instead. It's all about how I met my sister and she totally tried to kill me. Turns out that my family really puts the fun in dysfunctional."

"I have missed quite a bit," Elijah says. "So, you know what you are, then?"

Caroline gives an inelegant snort and releases Elijah's fist.

"That's cute," she tells him. "That you're so optimistic after all these years. No, I just got my throat slit and a warning that I was destroying myself. Oh, and a Wendigo bite. Have you ever interacted with a Wendigo? You should try it. It's totally _awesome_."

"My brother won't get that experience, Caroline. You're going to put the dagger back in him, and then we're going to talk about the definition of _betrayal_," Klaus says, and his eyes are cold as he watches his brother interact with Caroline.

"Nik, would it really be so bad if he stayed?" Rebekah asks, and her voice is almost small. "It's just… I've missed family, Nik. I know you feel you can't trust Kol or Finn, and I understand that. But this is _Elijah_. Always and forever, remember?"

"I'm not the one who forgot," Klaus snarls at his sister, and the glare he shoots at Elijah is dark and angry, and Elijah thinks it might be addressed as much at how close he is standing to Caroline as it is at his newly undaggered state.

"I didn't forget either, Niklaus. I was just… tired. I wanted my family back. And remember, I did think that you had tossed them all to the bottom of the ocean."

"There, it's all a misunderstanding," Caroline says with a false brightness. "He's sorry, you're not sorry, but I don't think anyone is asking for a miracle of that magnitude, so whatever. Now, between Elijah and Rebekah there you should be well protected while I take my leave for a little bit."

Caroline takes an involuntary step back when Klaus flashes so that he is right in front of her.

"That wasn't part of our deal, Caroline," he says, leaning down so their noses are almost touching. Awareness flashes in his eyes, and Caroline is wondering if he, like she is, is remembering the last time they stood this close. When they almost ended up naked in the middle of Gloria's bar.

"I made our deal before I met Alice and apparently set off the most violent twenty minutes in Chicago's history. Did you hear? Two bank robberies and four aggravated assaults. One of the victims of the assaults died and another is a coma. I read up on it while I waited for Elijah to wake up. I did that, without even knowing it, Klaus." Caroline stares up at him defiantly. "You like control. Imagine if you didn't have any. That's what happened to me."

Klaus smirks down at Caroline and reaches up, catching a lock of Caroline's hair in his fingers.

"Fine, go," he tells her, releasing the hair and backing off.

Caroline frowns at him, thinking this is far too good to be true, but slowly taking a step in the direction of the exit.

"Go, but know that I'll consider our deal void," Klaus continues, stopping Caroline in her tracks. "And that means Elena Gilbert is fair game. Did you really think, sweetheart, that my mind didn't jump immediately to our intrepid Doppleganger when the first group of werewolves didn't turn? I just wanted to get a second opinion from Gloria before I did anything rash."

"And?" Caroline asks, closing her eyes. "What did she say?"

"She's dead," Rebekah says, her voice bored. "Someone killed her. Maybe she's another victim of these supposed abilities of yours."

"Yes, she died before we could get a solid answer. She did tell us that Rebekah's necklace in Mystic Falls, though. And I thought, what better way to get answers than to go back to where it started? After all, your lovely friend Bonnie is such a clever witch, and the doppleganger works as such a wonderful hostage." Klaus meets Caroline's eyes with a wicked smirk. "By all means, leave if you want, Love."

**AN: So, Elijah is back, and Caroline wants to go after Marik because her powers make people go psycho. Snaps for Caroline! I've been getting more and more correct guesses on the identity of the four, so I'm glad that the hints are starting to make sense.**

**As always, please leave me a review.**


	25. Going Home

**AN: So, I wrote out 2000 words of this, then deleted it all because I didn't like it. So I wrote out another 2000 words, and this time I'm happier with it. Please enjoy…**

**Six. Going Home**

One trip to Mystic Falls, and then she'll find Marik. She just wants to make sure her friends make it out of this alive.

That's what Caroline tells herself, anyway.

She is squeezed into the middle seat of the coffin bearing truck, between Klaus and Rebekah. Elijah and Stefan are seated uncomfortably in the backseat of the truck. Klaus had seemed determined to put the dagger back in his brother's chest, but Rebekah had managed to break him down. Elijah was allowed to accompany them, on the promise that, should he act to betray Klaus in any way, _Caroline_ will shove the dagger back into his chest herself.

Caroline had managed to get three minutes alone with Elijah to make sure he knew that she was serious about that promise and if he would just not screw anything up, she would get all of them out alive.

"You're brave and loyal, Caroline, but you cannot fix everything," Elijah had replied. "Do not try. And do not make promises you cannot keep. The centuries of knowledge you bear should have taught you that."

Elijah is right, of course, but Caroline is a fixer. And despite how hopeless it seems, she _will_ fix this.

"You never did tell us," Elijah says, breaking the awkward silence that has fallen over the truck. "Why is it that you believe you caused a sudden uprising in Chicago's violence?"

In answer, Caroline turns on the radio. The news is once again talking about the freak violence streak in Chicago the previous day, which it turns out was worse than first suspected. Besides the original bank robberies and assaults, there were four rapes, three more assaults, and at least a dozen hold ups at various stores, and more reports were still coming in. All occurred in the same twenty minute period.

"I was fighting Alice's Wendigoes during that twenty minutes," Caroline says, staring straight ahead. "To be more exact, I was using my supersonic scream to stop them. A scream that required me to channel all the angry, hateful emotions I could." Caroline meets Elijah's eyes in the rear view mirror. "Do you believe in coincidences, Elijah?"

"This has never happened before," Stefan points out, the voice of reason to Caroline's tumultuous emotions.

"The last time I used it was in Mystic Falls, just a couple weeks after the change occurred. It's been two months, and the powers get easier to use every time. The scream didn't even make my throat sore this time, Stefan. Alice said something… she said that Marik was killing off Morgan's line. I think she was the witch that cursed me, or the voice, whatever. But releasing the curse meant the witch's line had to be annihilated," Caroline says.

"Who is Marik?" Klaus asks, and his voice isn't pleasant. It reminds Caroline of the night she flirted with Ray and Klaus told her to wash the dog off of her.

"Marik is… Marik is my best friend," Caroline replies. She wonders if she should just tell them all of it, that he's the one that created the spell that made the Originals, that they're the result of his envy of Victor and the werewolves. "He's like me, and like Alice. And Victor. We're the only four of our kind."

Elijah starts at that, and Caroline can feel the seat jerk behind her at his movement.

"What is it?" Caroline asks.

"It may be nothing," Elijah replies. "Just, you made me think of a theory."

"What?" Caroline asks hopefully. "Do you know what I am."

"I'm not sure, Caroline," Elijah replies. "Let us wait until we get to Mystic Falls. I need to look something up. I read about Wendigos once. Miss Bennett should have the book I want if her grandmother's collection is as good as I suspect."

"I doubt the witch will speak to us, Elijah," Klaus says. "She isn't exactly fond of our kind."

"Maybe we won't need Bonnie," Stefan interjects he looks at Caroline in the mirror, solemn brown eyes meeting blue. "You said you remember the spell, Caroline. Can you use it to figure out why the Hybrids aren't working?"

"What spell?" Rebekah demands, but Caroline closes her eyes and ignores her. Stefan is right, she remembers the spell that made the Originals. Is there anything in there that tells her about the hybrids?

"It's not the same spell," Caroline says, opening her eyes again. "But Marik would know. It's why he chose them… because he wanted to be clever and turn Victor's creations against him. He'd…" Caroline pauses and takes a deep breath before looking at Klaus. "Marik would help you with this. He'd _enjoy_ it, even."

"Do you really think I'd fall for that, Sweetheart? You want to find this lover of yours, so you come up with a clever lie to trick me into following you on a wild goose chase. No. I won't help you find him, and I won't let him have you. We made a deal, and you _will_ keep your end of the bargain."

"You told me you'd help me find out what I am. That's part of the bargain, too. That means we need to find Marik anyways, and he _can_ help. I'm not making this up."

"Caroline, I'm rather tired of hearing about Marik. Perhaps you should have a little nap."

"I'm not going to nap, you assh-"

Caroline's sentence was cut off as Klaus reached out and, with a loud crack, snapped her neck.

(CWM)

When Caroline awakens, she is lying in the back of the truck between the three inhabited coffins. Stefan is sitting with his back to the wall of the truck and he is looking out at the empty streets of Mystic Falls. The sun is beginning to set and Stefan is watching it contemplatively.

"Where are the Originals?" Caroline asks as she sits up. She gives a groan when she feels a crick in her neck, and there's a loud crack as she stretches it out.

"They're at the school. It's senior prank night, apparently," Stefan replies.

"Crap, I forgot about that. I had so many good ideas, too," Caroline replies before Stefan's words really sink in, and she stares at him. "Wait, why are they there? Please tell me Elena and the others aren't stupid enough to actually be at _prank_ night when they knew Klaus was coming."

"I don't know," Stefan replied. "I was ordered to remain here until you woke up, then accompany you to the school. Normally I wouldn't obey those orders, but there was some compellment added in just to ensure I obeyed, so…"

Stefan motions for Caroline to precede him off the truck and she hops down easily. Stefan closes the truck up once more and the pair head for the school.

"Call Damon," Caroline tells him as they walk. "He should have Elena halfway to Florida by now."

"I've been trying to call him," Stefan replies stonily. "He's not answering."

"Well, hopefully they're gone and Klaus is just terrorising the senior class in anger or something."

The pair look at each other, and Stefan's gaze is just as doubtful as Caroline's

"Oh God… Elena would be that stupid, wouldn't she?" Caroline groans, and then she takes off at full speed for the school, Stefan immediately on her heels.

When they burst into the gym of the school, the most obvious place, in Caroline's point of view, for a showdown, it's to see Klaus with Tyler Lockwood in his grip. Rebekah and Elijah look on while Elena, Bonnie and Matt attempt to stare Klaus down.

"Really, brother. Is this necessary?" Elijah is asking.

"Yes, it is Elijah. Miss Bennet has approximately twenty minutes to find a cure," Klaus replies, and then forces his blood down Tyler's throat before snapping the werewolf's neck. "Or Tyler Lockwood dies."

"Tyler!" Caroline shouts, and she runs ahead, sliding so that she comes up next to him. "What the hell, Klaus?"

"Ah, Caroline, Stefan. So nice of you to join us," Klaus says, ignoring the question. "Bonnie here was just about to begin searching for a way to save the young Lockwood's life."

"That's cute," Caroline sneers. "Making everyone suffer because you can't make your hybrids. And what if Bonnie can't find a way to make it work? Now Tyler will die."

"And so will Elena. I'll try everything, to make my new species. Now, on your feet, Caroline. Bonnie needs to get at Tyler. Stefan, won't you come here?"

Stefan approaches Klaus and comes to a halt in front of him, but his gaze is on Elena the whole time.

"Can't take your eyes off her, can you, mate? Well, I'll make it so you don't have to," Klaus grasps Stefan's face and forces him to meet his eyes. "You'll watch Elena like a hawk. If she tries to run, you'll kill her. Consider this your punishment, for attempting to keep the girl away from me."

"No!" Elena shouts angrily, and Bonnie and Matt look shocked at Klaus' command.

"Shit!" Caroline swears. "You guys just had to come, didn't you? We gave you a heads up, yet you still stayed? Stupid!"

"We're not letting him run our lives, Caroline," Bonnie snaps, making her way to Tyler's side. "You may be his loyal little lackey, but we aren't."

"Seriously, Bonnie? Are we actually going to go there? Because you seemed willing enough to let me go when it meant saving Elena's life."

"Well that worked well, didn't it? Elena is going to die anyways!" Bonnie shouts, pushing herself into Caroline's face.

"You have twenty minutes, Bon. Maybe you should stop wasting them on yelling at me and spend them trying to save Tyler _and_ Elena. Since none of you were smart enough to take the steps to avoid this mess."

Bonnie and Caroline stand in front of each other, glaring into the others eyes. Bonnie is finally the first to break eye contact, and she storms out of the gym, Matt following behind with a quick, apologetic look at Caroline.

"If you kill Elena, our deal is done," Caroline says once again, turning to look at Klaus. "And once the deal is broken, I'm free to kill you."

She is bluffing, of course. Killing Klaus means killing his bloodline, and Caroline won't do that. But as far as she knows, the only Original who knows that fact is Elijah, and from all appearances he isn't talking.

"You're free to try," Klaus replied. "If you're able."

Caroline is taken aback by that comment. Of course she's able! Except for the bloodline thing, of course, but that isn't what Klaus is talking about.

"You're a bit arrogant. Of course I'm able. I get stronger all the time, remember?"

"Physically able… perhaps. Mentally, however?" Klaus flashes so that he is in front of her, less than a foot away. But that isn't close enough for the hybrid, so he wraps an arm around her waist and pulls Caroline flush against his body. The closeness reminds her of their encounter in Gloria's bar, and she has to briefly close eyes to brace herself against the memories of the sensations he caused in her. "Even now, with the lives of your childhood friends on the line, you can feel it. The tension. It's been there all summer. It was there that night at Gloria's. Intellectually, you may want to end me, but whatever you are is instinctual, Caroline. And the last thing your instincts want is to kill me."

Klaus leans down as if to kiss her, and for a moment Caroline considers letting him. But Elena's quick intake of breath is heard as a reminder of the betrayal that would be, and Caroline angrily thrusts Klaus away from her. He stumbles back, but rather than the scowl Caroline expected him to wear, he is smirking.

"You know nothing about me," Caroline says coldly. "My loyalty is and always will be to my friends. Whatever hold you think you have over me is imaginary."

"Oh?" Klaus responds, still smirking, those his eyes are turning as cold as Caroline's voice. "Shall we ask Stefan his opinion. Tell me, Stefan, did Caroline look particularly loyal to you the night you walked in on us in Gloria's. Five minutes more, and you would've been getting a very different show."

"Niklaus, that is enough," Elijah interjects. "Let whatever happened stay between the two of you."

"Care?" Elena's voice is small. "What are they talking about?"

And Caroline feels like the lowest of people, because the look in Elena's eyes says that she has her suspicions, and while they may be exaggerated, they probably aren't by much. Because Klaus is right; five minutes more, and Stefan would have walked in on a different scenario. And how do you admit to your best friend that you almost slept with the guy that may or may not be her murderer by the end of the night?

The answer? You don't.

"I'm going to go check on Bonnie."

Unable to look Elena in the eyes, Caroline walks away.

**AN: So, how would you tell your best friend you almost slept with their would-be murderer? Or would you walk away like Caroline did? I'm about 1000 words into the next chapter, but I'm also in the middle of exams, so don't expect an update too soon… but on the bright side, I managed to finish chapter 6, and it's been giving me trouble for a while! So yay to that.**

**Many of you know what Caroline is. For those of you who don't, you'll find out within the next three chapters. Elijah knows, or at least suspects, and he's going to put his theory to Caroline. And then who knows what will happen?**

**As always, thanks to those who review, and if you read **_**Still Doll**_**, then you're getting a double update today! Yay for double updates.**


	26. A Terrible Sort of Sense

**AN: And so it continues…**

**Seven. A Terrible Sort of Sense **

Out of ear shot of the gym, Caroline pulls out her cell and calls Damon, planning on leaving him the scathing voicemail to end all scathing voicemails for not being there.

To her surprise, he answers instead.

"Why do you and Stefan keep calling me, Blondie?" Damon demands irritably.

"We're in Mystic Falls and Senior Prank Night. Klaus has killed Tyler to turn him into a hybrid, if Bonnie doesn't come up with a way to make it work, not only will Tyler die, but Stefan is compelled to kill Elena. _That_ will happen in twenty minutes. My hands are tied because, until Elena is dead, I can't touch Klaus. Now for the more important question… where are you?"

There is a long pause on the other end of the line as Damon digests this new information.

"I'm with Katherine and Jeremy. Jeremy sees dead people, so we're using his ghost whisperer skills to find out how to get rid of Klaus. Those ghosts are leading us to some guy named Mikael, but Katherine and Jeremy can find him. I'll come back now."

"You can't leave Jeremy with _Katherine_, Damon. Elena would stake you herself. Look, this Mikael guy… he can stop Klaus? Without killing him? Because he can't die. Not if you guys want to live."

"I remember that, Blondie," Damon responds. "We'll make a deal. Can you call Klaus off somehow?"

"No, but I'll help Bonnie figure out a way. Get to this Mikael guy, Damon. He might be your only shot."

Caroline hangs up the cell and shoots off down the halls, searching for Bonnie and Matt. She's passing the pool when she hears splashing inside and opens the door. Bonnie is pulling Matt, who is turning almost blue, out of the pool.

"Holy crap," Caroline swears, shooting over to Bonnie's side and hauling the quarterback up with ease. "What the hell happened?"

"We need information from the other side, but Jeremy isn't answering his cell. So Matt volunteered to try and see dead people himself," Bonnie replies quickly, apparently forgetting the hate she has for Caroline in order to save Matt.

"Of all the stupid things," Caroline mutters, and begins compressions on Matt's chest. "Jeremy is with Damon and Katherine, apparently hunting down someone who just might save all of you from Klaus. I'm just hoping we can keep all of you alive through the night and I can get Klaus to leave with me, because this stupid oath is really beginning to make things difficult."

"Then why won't you let me break it?" Bonnie hisses.

"Not the time," Caroline snaps back, breathing into Matt's mouth, then starting compressions again. "But the oath can't be broken. Some promises just have to be kept."

Caroline gives another compression, and Matt begins to cough up water. Caroline quickly rolls the blonde boy to his side, and feels a rush of relief when Matt stops coughing and blinks his gorgeous blue eyes up at her.

"Hey, Care," he says with a weak smile. "I hear you're one of the supernatural crew. You should have told me."

"I wanted to keep you away from this. You deserve better," Caroline replies with an equally weak smile. "I didn't mean for you to take up vampire hunting, though. I hear that was a failed attempt."

"Yeah. It really was. I saw Vicki," Matt's eyes flash to Bonnie now. "According to her, the only way to make the hybrid thing work is to kill Elena. That's what the original witch told her."

"Crap," Caroline whispers, and it's echoed by Bonnie. Caroline looks at her witch friend. "Is there anything you can do? Anything at all?"

"We're down to less than five minutes. I don't have time."

Caroline shuts her eyes, blocking out everything else so she can think. Stefan was positive Rebekah and Klaus were running from something in the 1920s. Caroline would bet that something was Mikael. Would Klaus' fear be enough to buy Bonnie time?

"I'm going to go and try to bluff our way into more time. You guys focus on finding a way around Elena's death. I have to stop Stefan from killing Elena."

Caroline doesn't wait for a reply, and flashes away from the pool. She reaches the gym just in time for Elena to come bursting through the doors into her arms.

"Care, Stefan is fighting it, but he needs help. You have to help him," Elena gasps out. Caroline blinks at her, and then Stefan comes through the doors as well, the veins under his eyes becoming prominent and the eyes themselves darkening.

"I told you to run, Elena," he growls, his fangs coming down from his gums.

Caroline pushes Elena behind her and hisses. Last time they were in this situation, Caroline was the one acting against her will, but she's willing to end it with Stefan's neck broken again.

"Get her away, Caroline," Stefan mutters, and Caroline can see that he is working hard to hold himself back.

"You know what I have to do, Stef. Sorry," Caroline responds, and she moves in a flash to snap Stefan's neck just as the gym doors open for Elijah.

"Klaus left you behind to observe?" Caroline asks the original, her voice dry.

"Indeed. I was coming to stop Mr. Salvatore myself, though I see you beat me to it. Niklaus will consider this a betrayal on our both parts, you know," Elijah replies, nudging Stefan with one of his fine Italian leather boots.

"I never claimed to be loyal to him. Bonnie says to create hybrids, Elena has to die. At least, according to some original witch or something."

Caroline's words bring Elijah to attention, and he grasps Caroline's upper arms.

"The original witch. You're sure that's who made this claim?" Elijah demands.

"Uh… as sure as I can be. Matt was the one who almost died to find out, but that's what he said. You almost look gleeful, Elijah. It's creepy. What does it mean, if the original witch said it?"

"It means Elena won't die," Elijah responds.

"You don't get to make that claim, brother," drawls Klaus, once again making his appearance. "I go off to check on my potential hybrid, and come back to find you two in cahoots to betray me. Is it any wonder I want you to remain daggered, brother?"

"Young Matthew Donovan was told by _the Original Witch_ that Elena has to die to make the hybrids," Elijah says immediately, not bothering with threats or promises. "Now, do we really think that is the truth, considering the source?"

Caroline is completely lost at this point. They're told one thing, that Elena has to die, but apparently that's wrong, because Klaus is looking at Elena with a smirk that is almost a real smile, and Caroline has come to know Klaus in the past two months. He smirks when he's about to kill someone. An almost smile? That simply means good news.

"Well, let's see if you're theory is correct, Elijah. Come along, Elena." Klaus grabs Elena's arm and drags her behind him. Caroline looks at Elijah, who merely motions for Caroline to follow the Hybrid. Caroline mutters a curse aimed at all enigmatic asshats and follows Klaus.

"What exactly are you going to do?" Caroline demands and Klaus drags Elena into the empty History room. Rebekah is sitting on the desk filing her nails and Tyler is just beginning to stir. He sits up, disoriented, and looks around.

"Where am I?" he asks. His eyes land on Caroline and his gaze turns confused. "Caroline? What's going on? Elena? Who are these people?"

"I'm your savior, mate," Klaus replies, pulling Elena up next to Tyler. He lifts Elena's wrist to his mouth and bites into it. Elena gives a pained whimper while Klaus holds the open cut to Tyler. "Drink up."

"What? No! I'm a werewolf, not a vampire, and Elena's my friend!" Tyler argues, but there is a look in his eyes that is hungry. And that gaze won't be moved from Elena's wrist.

"I suggest you get the boy to drink, Caroline," Klaus says, tossing a quick glance over his shoulder at the blonde. There is anger in his eyes, an anger that hasn't really left since he found Caroline sitting next to Elijah's undaggered body. Caroline knows this is Klaus' way of punishing her, though she isn't sure what for. Klaus isn't stupid, he has to know that the false loyalty of the blood oath is really no loyalty at all when compared to years spent as best friend to Elena. "It's the only way he'll complete the transition and live."

"Tyler, it's alright-" Elena begins, but Klaus' hand shoots up to her throat, cutting off her air and her ability to speak.

"I told _Caroline_ to convince him, Miss Gilbert."

Caroline glares at Klaus helplessly and turns her gaze to Tyler.

"He's right, Tyler," she says, kneeling next to her friend. "You either drink or you die. There's no middle ground, there's no way to prevent it. I've seen what happens to werewolves who fail in the transition. You don't want to be one of them."

"What has he made me, Care?" Tyler croaks out, his hand reaching out to grasp Caroline's. She accepts the hold, and tightens her own fingers around his.

"A vampire. But it's better than death, Ty. Drink the blood. I'm right here, I'll make sure you don't hurt Elena any more than she already is."

Five minutes later, Tyler has drunk from Elena and completed the transition, and Klaus is in the hall with his siblings, making plans to get Elena to the hospital to set up a blood tube. He already has makeshift setup in Elena's arm, and it disgusts Caroline to see her friend's blood dripping into the bag, but she is already on thin ice with Klaus. She is about to make that ice thinner, so she must choose her battles. Once Caroline is sure that her friends are okay, she stomps out to the hall an interrupts the argument over Elena's fate that is beginning to brew between Klaus and Elijah.

"Damon and Katherine have found some guy named Mikael that they're pretty sure can get rid of you," she says bluntly, meeting Klaus' angry eyes. Seeing that anger just makes Caroline's own rise. He has no right to anger. _She_ is the one who had to give up his life for him. _She_ is the one who had to sign away her rights. "You don't have time to torment Elena, because whoever Mikael is, he's on his way."

"What have you done, Caroline?" Elijah asks, giving words to the horror that is written across the faces of all three siblings.

"Me? Nothing. It's all your precious Katerina."

Caroline turns away from the three, but Klaus is there grabbing her arm and spinning her back around.

"What do you know about Mikael?" he demands.

"Very little," Caroline responds. She has inklings in the back of her mind. Mikael was connected to the siblings a millennium ago when they turned. It's the nature of that connection she can't determine.

"Fine. Rebekah, Elijah, stay here and keep an eye on my doppleganger. I'll take the blood that has been taken with me and begin to make my hybrids." Klaus doesn't bother to wait for his siblings to reply before glaring down at Caroline. "You and I are going on a little road trip. I suggest you not complain. Or mention the name Marik."

Caroline surveys Klaus with a cool gaze, and decides this is not a battle to fight.

"What about Stefan? He'll be waking up soon."

"The Ripper is of no use to me as he is now. He can stay here and help watch the Doppleganger."

Caroline nods slowly, then remembers Elijah's words in the van.

"You said you knew what I was. What is it?"

Elijah fidgets, looking uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"I feel that perhaps I should not tell you outright," he replies slowly. "But if I might, I would suggest some light reading."

"This is wasting time," Klaus snarls, and he drags Caroline away before Elijah can make his suggestion. Caroline wants to snarl back, maybe even harm him despite what it would do to her, but Klaus' eyes are murderous. And now she his alone with him.

Choose your battles. That will be Caroline's new mantra. Klaus won't leave his siblings behind permanently; Caroline will find out what _light reading_ she should be pursuing later.

As they leave Mystic Falls behind once more, Caroline feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. She doesn't pull it out to read the text for several hours, when they've travelled far enough for Klaus' peace of mind and have a motel room.

It's while Klaus is showering that Caroline looks at her text message. It's from Stefan's phone, but the message is clearly from Elijah.

_The Bible. Revelations should be particularly illuminating._

Caroline frowns at the text, but reaches for the Bible that is found in pretty much every American motel room. She finds the Book of Revelations, and what she reads turns her life upside down, even as it makes a sort of terrible sense.

_When the lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say "come and see!" Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword._

_Revelation 6: 3-4_

**AN: For those of you who don't know, I'll tell you now and save you the tip to google: the quote at the end comes from the bible and refers to one of the Four Horsemen (Horsepeople, in this story) of the Apocalypse. War/Violence, to be exact. Because that's who Caroline is. Many readers got it, so congratulations to you! **

**This chapter gave me problems. I'm still not completely content with it, but it moved the story on as I needed it to be moved on. Now, the fun stuff can start. Because Caroline knows what she is, so now she just needs to figure out how to live with that.**

**As always, thank-you to everyone who reviews. I love to hear what you think.**


	27. War

**AN: Please enjoy the new chapter!**

**Eight. War**

She was War.

There was really no other explanation. It explained why she thrived on chaos and violence. Why she only came alive when she was physically hurting someone (or kissing Klaus, but she didn't want to think about that). It explained the violent outbreak in Chicago.

And it explained the others as well.

Viktor and the plague. Pestilence.

Alice and her wendigos. Famine.

Leaving only one title to Marik. Death. And death always thrived with war.

"-are you listening to me Caroline? I never took you to be particularly religious."

Klaus' voice breaks through the fog that surrounds Caroline's mind, and she looks up at him, her face blank and confused. She has no idea what he is talking about.

"The bible?" Klaus asks, raising an eyebrow, and motioning at the book. "Doesn't seem like your type of reading."

Caroline's gaze moves down to the cover of the book, and she traces the words on the front. If you had told her just three months ago that opening a bible would change her forever, she would have sent out a memo to the mental home. Now however, she is simply floored by the revelation of what she is.

"What's wrong with you? If this is your way of making me pay for my anger in Mystic Falls, it won't work. We had a spat, I'm over it. The silent treatment is just childish."

"I am War."

It seems so weird, saying it out loud like this. It's three simple words, but saying them makes Caroline feel sick to the stomach. She is one of Four Horsemen (Horsepeople?) of the Apocalypse. Her simple presence assists in bringing about the end of the world, if the stories can be believed.

"What on earth does that mean?" Klaus asks, pausing in the process of towelling his hair dry.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Caroline responds, her voice growing stronger with each word. "I am War. That's why I'm so strong, so violent. By definition, I _am_ violence."

The words are awakening something deep within her. Something more than the voice, though that is stirring as well. It's something old and primitive, and Caroline can feel it filling her very being. The certainty of those words, _I am war_, is awakening the pieces of her that were hidden away, the pieces of her that girly little Caroline from Mystic Falls was simply incapable of reaching, because she could never understand something this dark and dangerous.

But Caroline is no longer the same girl. She has killed, she has maimed, she has taken delight in the violent natures that all the earth's creatures possess. The Caroline she is now can handle the knowledge of what she is.

Caroline can actually feel the last barriers between her and the voice fall. The Caroline of ages past, who was born with humanity, is melding with the Caroline of the present. Caroline can recall the beginnings, back before sides were taken, when she and Alice were still sisters, just as easily as she can recall the easier days of her childhood with Elena and Bonnie. She can remember a thousand different lives in a thousand different countries and a thousand different times.

To Caroline, this transition seems to last a lifetime, it _is_ a lifetime. For her, centuries have passed and empires have risen and fallen, all at her whims. She can recall those humans, worshipping false Gods when they should have been worshipping _her_. She made the streets run red with their blood in her anger at being overlooked, and as each soldier died it was with a knowledge that the did so because that was what Caroline wished.

A lifetime has passed for Caroline, but for Klaus it is only mere seconds from the moment of her declaration to the moment when she stands and looks at him with eyes far _far_ older than they had been before.

"I am War," she says, her voice stronger yet. "And I may be sworn to protect your life, but I am not sworn to be your _slave_."

Caroline moves faster than even Klaus' eyes can track, and she is standing mere millimeters away from him in seconds, and for the first time in years, Klaus knows what real fear feels like. It is not what he felt for Mikael. No, this is a bone deep chill that Klaus will be able to recall even after the world as he knows it now has faded and he walks new streets and creates new memories.

"From now on, we do this my way, or we don't do it at all," Caroline says, her voice dangerously soft. Only, Klaus isn't sure that it is Caroline anymore, at least not the Caroline he has come to have some… affection for. This is someone, _something_, else. It is a creature far older than even him, and Klaus has to wonder as he looks into glowing silver eyes if the young girl who had faced him down so bravely is now gone forever.

(CWM)

Alice is still in Chicago when she feels it, the stirring of power in the air. It raises the hair on her arms and the back of her neck, and so she recognizes it as Caroline. Alice would know her sister's power anywhere, and this is a pulsating wave that surrounds her, making Alice's own powers raise in return. Powers the other Horsemen would feel as a rise of goosebumps along their arms.

Alice ran her hand over her arm and smirked into the air.

"So you figured it out? Good girl, Sister Mine. Now let's see if you can contain it."

(CWM)

In Niger, Victor snaps awake from where he had been lightly napping in a hut he had procured from a nice little family, now dead.

Power permeates the air, power that he hasn't felt in centuries.

_Caroline_.

The hair on his arms raise and goose bumps rise along with it. Alice's magic, responding to Caroline, both powers calling to Victor's, attracting it like a moth to the flame. Victor allows the power to answer, knowing that the others would feel the oily slickness of his powers rushing over their skin.

Victor has been waiting for this moment since Caroline was locked away. It has been far too long since the four fought for dominance, even longer since they rode the world together and exercised their power as they were meant to.

It is time for the games to begin.

(CWM)

In Canada, Marik leaves the bedside of an old man, hospital staff running through him their attempt to revive. It will be unsuccessful.

He too feels the rush of power, and he smiles.

His old friend has returned. Marik has missed his companion, his Caroline. If Marik had ever loved a person, it was her, and he has spent over five hundred years hunting down all of Morgan's descendants. Now that Caroline has awakened, has remembered, it is time to destroy the last. It is time to kill the final member of Morgan's line and free Caroline from the bonds of the curse forever. Then they can ride again. Then everything will be as it was meant to be.

Marik's power rises with the others, sending a chill down their spines, as if they are being watched.

Death sees all.

(CWM)

Caroline stares Klaus down when she feels the response to her power. The goose bumps from Alice, the oily slickness from Victor, the cold chill from Marik. They have all responded, they all know that Caroline lives once more.

"We will create your hybrids. I will keep you alive. And in return you will come with me to meet the others. It's time for me to reclaim my place in the world."

Klaus stared at the blonde in front of him, not recognizing the girl who stood there for all that she wore Caroline's face. In a tiny corner of her mind, the only place not consumed by the power her identity had awakened in her, the girl known as Caroline Forbes was trapped.

**AN: So, much shorter than any other chapter, but it moves the plot forward. And we got to briefly meet Marik and Victor. And Caroline is no longer exactly in control. But she's Care, and she's stubborn, and Klaus is there and will want her back, since he dislikes losing the upper hand. **

**Updates may be a little slower these days because I've started my summer job, and it's farmer's hours. That means 7:30 mornings and 11:30 nights. Not much time for writing in there. But please be patient, because I still have inspiration for this story and plan on continuing it.**


	28. Memories

_**AN: So, it's been a while. And I apologize. As I said, my summer job is time consuming. We've finally finished seeding, however (yay!), which should hopefully mean a bit more time for me to write. Hopefully. Thanks to everyone who continues to read despite the long breaks. Please enjoy…**_

**Nine. Memories**

At first, Klaus is at a loss on how to deal with this new Caroline, the one who claims to be War. He considers calling Elijah, even going so far as to call up his brother's name on his cellphone, his finger hovers over the call button for several seconds, but in the end he does not press it. The thought of calling Elijah for assistance with Caroline rankles. The last thing Klaus wants to do is turn to the brother who appears to have such camaraderie with the blonde for help in bringing her back.

_Klaus_ is the one she kissed. _Klaus_ is the one she's drawn too. Klaus can, Klaus _will_, bring her back to herself without any aide from _Elijah_.

"You are distracted," Caroline comments from her place in the van's driver's seat. "You aren't useful to me distracted."

"And _you_ aren't useful to me with tunnel-vision leading you straight to bloody _Marik_, yet we both must deal with these facts," Klaus growled in reply. He didn't like this situation. He didn't like that Caroline was the one in control, and that he was forced to her will.

A tiny, traitorous part of him points out that this is probably how Caroline had felt for the past two months. Klaus crushes that part ruthlessly.

"Are you jealous?" Caroline's voice was rife with amusement. "Of Marik? He was the biggest part of my world for far longer than you've been alive. He'll be in my world long after you've gone. Vampires as a species are so very fleeting."

It is odd to Klaus, hearing someone speak of him as he spoke of humans. He had been alive for a thousand years, for at least ten lifetimes, yet Caroline spoke as if he were but a child.

"How old are you, exactly?" Klaus asks.

"This vessel is seventeen," Caroline replies, her voice absent-minded and her attention once more on the road. "I am far older. As old as humanity itself. We were there in the beginning. As man learned to kill and be selfish, they created us. And humans learned those things so very, very quickly after the beginning."

"That's not an answer," Klaus mutters.

"That's the only answer I have. I do not recall an actual number."

The pair lapse back into silence, and Klaus muses that for all he was so attracted to the bright light of Caroline Forbes, he does not know how to bring her back.

(CWM)

It is an odd experience for Caroline, being trapped in her own mind. She can hear Klaus' words and see his face, but it's as if she's seeing and hearing him through a wall of water. The words are garbled, his face is warped.

But watching Klaus seems better than the alternative. Because the alternative is to go deeper into herself, to go deeper into this force that has taken her over. It means embracing the memories the discovery of who she is unleashed, and that terrifies Caroline. So, she waits within in her own mind and tries to find a way to regain control without venturing into that void.

_There is no other way_.

It is the voice, and Caroline feels her head ache… or at least the part of it that she is contained within. It's as if Caroline has multiple personalities. There is her, the teenage cheerleader who is a horrible person, but working on it. Then there is the voice, the other her that lived centuries ago and has pushed her towards this truth, pushed her to discover who she was. Then there is the force that is in control of her body. That force has a simple purpose: it wants to find Marik and unleash chaos on Earth. That is its purpose, and it goes against everything Caroline has believed in her whole life.

_You must contain it. We are War, but that does not mean War controls _us_._

"How?" Caroline asks. "How do I control it? It's too damn strong."

_You remember. You look back and remember who you are. We have had a thousand lives to teach us ten thousand lessons. Return and remember._

Caroline looks through the water wall back to the car where her body and Klaus sit in silence. Her vision is limited to the road, but she wonders if Klaus is still looking at her with those eyes that always pierce through all her walls and facades, straight to the heart of who Caroline is.

She hated the way he could do that, now she wishes she was in control, feeling that experience again.

Caroline stares at the water wall, at what is going on in the outside world, then she wills it to change. She wills her vision to take her within rather than without. The vision of the roads twists and fades, a mess of color and flashes of shapes, then it solidifies into an Earth that Caroline has never before seen.

Caroline is back at the beginning.

(CWM)

_Victor was created first. _

_ The first humans became ill, plague had arrived, and from their misery Victor was born. It did not take long for Marik to follow, born of the dead and mourning._

_ With disease and death wreaking havoc on the land, vegetation and wildlife began to fail as well, causing anger and violence and hunger between neighbors. That's why they were called sisters, because they were created from the same violent, turbulent emotions. Famine and War, joining with pestilence and death to create the Four Horsemen, though they were not called that in the beginning._

_ In the beginning they were merely children. Powerful children, but children all the same. And they didn't cause pain because they enjoyed it, they caused it because that's what they were meant to do. Humans were mortal, and their purpose was to be a reminder of that._

_(CWM)_

_ Then came the dark days. They were locked away by powers they didn't understand, and that didn't understand them. Those powers didn't see that the four weren't _evil_ creations, but instead the natural enemies of the world. They were population control, and a way of keeping everything on their toes._

_ Caroline recalls a thousand years spent in that darkness. Sitting and waiting, and while she was waiting her temper rose, and her rage grew. And so it was, when her seal was broken and she was unleashed, that she and the others unleashed that rage on the world. In a time that would forever be called the Dark Ages, plague reigned, starvation was rampant, war consumed the land, and death ruled over them all. No one, be they king or peasant, was safe. _

_ And during this time, the four created their children._

_ Caroline created the Valkyrie, for though she loathed the mortals who had begged for them to be locked away, she found some among their number worthy of being saved. It was the job of her Valkyrie, her Shield Maidens who were such fierce warriors, to collect those souls and ensure that they were kept safe. After all, the four were meant to unleash the Apocalypse, and Caroline was sure that she would want an army at her back when she decided to do so._

_ Alice created her Wendigo. Beings so starved they would eat anything yet never feel full. Victor, amused by Alice's creations, granted them the ability to infect others with that same unquenchable hunger. Humans called their neighbors consumed by the disease _Cannibals_, Alice called them her pets._

_ Victor created werewolves. Humans who would genetically receive the gene to become wolves on the full moon. They would be unable to control themselves and kill without thought during those nights. And more than that, they would be venomous to all other mystical creatures, for Victor thought that his comrades creations should have predators as well._

_ And Marik created the vampires. And just to spite Victor, he ensured that one of those vampires belonged to a werewolf clan. Marik created a hybrid of their species, one that Victor's creations couldn't infect, but that would always be more vampire than wolf._

_ There had always been a rift between Marik and Victor, because Victor felt he should be leader by virtue of being the eldest, and Marik felt the title belonged to him because he was death, and death was everywhere. You could outrun pestilence, but you couldn't escape Death. Not unless he let you._

_ "You're selfish and power hungry," Caroline can recall Victor hissing once, when Marik had thwarted his plague simply to remind Victor who truly had the power._

_ "And you're a fool if you believe anything you say will change reality," Marik had laughed in reply, for Marik was always laughing. Death, he said, could take nothing too serious, or life would become all work. "I am the most powerful. That is reality."_

_ That had been back, shortly after they had escaped their seals. The first of many small power struggles that soon became legion and caused a rift in the four._

_ "He will never see you as an equal," Alice had said. "To him, we are all beneath him. Join with us, Sister. Together the three of us can seal him away again."_

_ Caroline had recoiled at the thought of trapping one of them behind a seal again. Especially Marik, who had always been her closest friend. He had appreciated her work, her violence, far more than Victor or Alice who felt she had lacked subtly and elegance in her approach to chaos._

_ So, Caroline had fought with Alice bitterly, and she had sent her sister away to lick her wounds and nurse a grudge that, in the end, Caroline had chosen Marik over her own sister._

_ So Marik continued to thrive and unleash death, Caroline remained at his side. Until Morgan. Until _Caroline_ was the one who got sealed away._

(CWM)

The car swerved violently to the side, and Klaus curses, grasping the handle above the door.

"What the hell, Caroline?" he growls, but Caroline ignores him. She releases the steering wheel and grabs her head, giving a low moan of pain. Klaus reaches across the van and grabs the wheel, trying to recover control, but Caroline doesn't know what is going on around her, and her foot presses down on the accelerator as she gives another moan and tears harder at her hair.

The result is that the van goes careening into the ditch, and is sent into a series of flips.

When the van's movement finally ceases, Klaus manages to pull himself from the rubble. He looks across the van, to where he is sure Caroline is doing the same, but there is nothing but empty space where he expects the blonde to be.

(CWM)

_Morgan was a powerful witch from a long line of other powerful witches. Once, they had been legion and no other family had been as powerful. Then Salem happened, and only Morgan and a handful of cousins were left. Other witch lines were wiped out entirely. _

_ Caroline doesn't know why Morgan chose to come after her, how the witch even knew War was in the area, but come Morgan did. It took all her power, and Morgan died in the casting of the sealing spell. But with the cousins still alive, the line continued, and the spell remained intact._

_ Caroline floated. She was aware that she existed, but unaware of where she was. And so she remained for centuries._

(CWM)

Klaus flashes over to the driver's side of the car. Caroline hung there, suspended by her seat belt. Her eyes are closed and her face slack, almost peaceful. If it weren't for the shallow cuts from the glass on her face and hands, cuts already beginning to close, Klaus would have thought that the blonde was simply asleep. For a moment, the Hybrid kneels next to the van and considers his options. Caroline had been a valuable asset, until she wasn't. Now she was dangerous and viewed Klaus as little more than an obstacle in her one-track course of finding Marik, whoever the bloody bastard was.

He should leave her. That was the smart thing to do. With Mikael loose, Klaus needed his Hybrids now more than ever. He should walk away and let Caroline deal with the aftermath of the situation she found herself in. Klaus has found himself in situations like this hundreds of times in the last ten centuries, and always he had walked away with no more than the smallest twinge of regret for what might have been.

His mind screams at him, orders him to abandon the blonde. If he creates his hybrids, her presence wouldn't be required anyway…

Only Klaus is quite certain that Elijah could rip out a Hybrid's heart with no challenge, whereas Caroline had sent a thrill of fear through both of them at at least one point in time. The Hybrids might be able to overwhelm Mikael in numbers if Klaus were to turn enough of them, Caroline would challenge the man simply by her presence.

Klaus rips the door off of the broken vehicle and carefully extricates Caroline from the inside, pulling her out and putting her on the grass. She is still useful, and that is why Klaus is not leaving her. It has nothing to do with a kiss that ignited things in him that were dormant for centuries. Nothing to do with the way Caroline's eyes light up defiantly when Klaus asks her to do something distasteful.

It has nothing to do with the primal rage Klaus had once felt, watching Caroline flirt with and let Ray the werewolf hang all over her.

"Wake up, Sweetheart. We have places to be," Klaus says, shaking Caroline's shoulder. The blond doesn't respond, and she is completely motionless. Total dead weight.

_I am War_, Caroline had declared, and Klaus remembers feeling fear as he looked at her. Now, all that power is contained, hidden within the unconscious woman on the ground next to him. And Klaus feels fear again, because what force in the world could possibly make a harbinger of the apocalypse retreat so fully into themselves?

Klaus doesn't know, but there is a witch who might.

Klaus lifts Caroline into his arms and walks away from the wreck of the van. Whatever caused Caroline to wreck the vehicle must be old and powerful. And no witch knew old and powerful better than Amelia Morgan.

_**AN: So, Caroline is caught up in an internal battle, and Klaus is taking her to Amelia **_**Morgan**_**, does anyone else see how that could be problematic? Things are beginning to come together in my mind for how the story will continue, so I'm hoping the next chapters will come out a little quicker than this one did.**_

_**As always, thanks for reading, and please leave a review and let me know what you think.**_


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